The Little Human
by Silken Ink
Summary: She is willing to break all the rules, leave everything behind, even give up her own voice...and maybe her very soul... for the freedom to be herself, to see beyond the walls of her tiny world, and to choose to stand by the side of the one she loves. Will Kagome find love and life, or will she fail and be consumed? InuyashaxKagome pairing (AU world)
1. Chapter 1

Kagome sighed wistfully as she stared at the lush green forest from atop the large stone wall upon which she crouched. She was not supposed to be up here, and if someone found her she'd be in enormous trouble - which was precisely why she was hiding up under a conveniently close building's eves. This was the only structure that had been built this close to the wall, and thus it was the only place where she could climb up to the top of the barricade, using the stone work on the building as handholds and pressing her back against the smooth stone of the 50 foot wall to scale her way up to the top. It had taken her months of practice before she was able to climb the whole way up.

The wall had been built around their small kingdom long before anyone alive today had been born, and now it was simply a way of life. No one was allowed outside the walls, no one except for a select few who had been specially trained. They were mostly game hunters, the rare lumber jack, and the even rarer demon hunters. Otherwise their tiny, little kingdom was utterly isolated, located as it was within the most hostile environment found on planet earth: the dark forests.

Whoever had had the gumption to come and actually try to settle this land must have been insane. Especially when they named the kingdom 'Oceana,' when there wasn't even so much as a lake within the borders.

But through sheer perseverance, and probably many lives lost, an enormous wall had been erected and an area of land was cut off from the rest of the forest. The history books told of how the founding fathers had cut down all the trees within the protected lands, killing any creatures they ran across, to make room for fields and farms. Set within this grid of farmland was a smattering of villages and small towns, in which lived all the people who worked the surrounding lands. None of these small populated country towns were anywhere close to the size of the city around the castle though. That was the highest populated area in the whole kingdom and was set directly in the center of the land marked off by the wall.

The only populated area that came even close to the castle city was the gate city, set near the tallest and sturdiest section of the wall, and also was the location of the one and only gateway out into the outside world.

And this was where Kagome had spent her entire life, in the gate city, so close to the exit but never allowed to leave. Anyone she met who happened to find out about her desire to do so thought she was utterly insane. Most people were terrified of the world beyond the walls. The entire population had been taught of the evils beyond those sturdy stone structures, and for most of them, they didn't even know there was anything beyond the dark woods.

To the large majority of the people living in Oceana, the dark woods went on forever, and the only thing to be found outside of the walls was a horrific death by demons. They knew of no other way of life, and so they were utterly terrified of the prospect of anything else.

Kagome, on the other hand, was curious, and her visits to the top of the wall only increased that curiosity as she watched the incomprehensible amount of trees swaying in the wind. She was fascinated too by the creatures she would occasionally see poking their heads out of the wooded area, and the creatures she occasionally saw flying through the sky above it. None of those creatures ever came inside the walls … not even the flying ones. A magical barrier had been erected in the shape of an enormous dome from wall to wall of the kingdom, and so even flying creatures had no hope of getting past it. Ironically, given her interest in the outside world, her grandfather was the one who maintained that barrier, being the head wizard of the country.

To say that she and her grandfather didn't see eye to eye was an understatement. He was old-fashioned, lived by the letter of the law, and absolutely believed that the wall was the most precious and wondrous thing in this world. And yet, oddly enough, he did have a collection of things from beyond the wall, all of them in glass cases with neat labels. He had dried demon parts, old weapons from other foreign places, artifacts from cultures that no-one had ever heard of, and other objects that Kagome had no name for. When asked, he would simply say that he was a man of science, a man of knowledge who collected specimens that intrigued him. But despite having a passion for collecting odd, rare objects, he had denounced everything beyond the wall as essentially evil.

He had raised her and her younger brother with this mindset, believing that the both of them needed to be knowledgeable, not about things outside the wall, but certainly everything within the wall they should know about. And when they both showed signs of the same sorts of spiritual powers that he possessed, he enrolled them in special training. Sota, her younger brother, was also sent to an academy of learning with other boys his age, while Kagome had to simply be tutored within her own home. Women were not allowed to enter into the academy. And so, she was tutored in such subjects as reading, writing, language, history, economy, and many other subjects, many of which bored her to tears.

While she was very intelligent, and enjoyed learning, she did not like things such as math and economy, and the like. She wanted to learn things about the outside world, a subject which was strictly forbidden to all except a very select few. Her grandfather was one of those select few, and yet despite her begging him, he refused her access to his books on the matter, and locked his collection room, strictly forbidding her from entering.

However, sneaking to the top of the wall and seeing all those strange things had made Kagome so curious that she had sneaked into her grandfather's library, into the section that was forbidden, and had read books about the outside world, learning things that no-one else knew. She knew the names of different kinds of birds, different kinds of plants, even different kinds of trees.

Trees weren't very common inside the walls. There were only a few highly guarded orchards for fruits, and there were no trees used for wood. There weren't that many animals either. All rodents and pests had been eliminated long ago, so the only animals that Kagome had ever seen were livestock, and they were kept on the farms, far away from her. She had only seen them once, on a trip to a farm with her grandfather and brother, which she was only just barely allowed to go on.

Since there were no pests, there were no cats and dogs. The only pets that were allowed were very small fancy fish or very small fancy birds, which were kept in cages and tanks and were rare and very expensive. She herself had owned a tiny yellow canary for a time as a child and named her Bluebell. The small creature had been confined to a small golden cage, which possessed one small golden swing and a small food and water tray.

Kagome had lovingly cared for that little bird, adoring her with every bit of her young heart. She had fed and watered her every day, and had taken her out of her cage, despite the rules, to let her perch on her small finger. The little bird had sat on her shoulders and preened her hair with a tiny beak, and sang such sweet songs to help ease the loneliness the young girl had felt. She had loved the sweet little creature for the short year that she had had her, and when she died after only that short time, Kagome had cried bitterly with sadness, her young heart hurting in a way she had never felt before and didn't understand. She didn't know why her friend had gone limp in her cage, or why she wouldn't make any more sweet sounds and wouldn't eat the seeds Kagome put in front of her.

That was when Kagome learned that pets didn't last long, that they only lived for nine months or so, at the very most. That she had kept Bluebell alive for a whole year was a near miracle. It wasn't until much later that Kagome realized, through the forbidden books that she read, that birds and fish could live for much longer in the wild. The only thing Kagome could think of to explain this discontinuity, was that many years of being bred in captivity, being kept in such tiny spaces, and being out of the environment they were supposed to be in had shortened their lifespan significantly.

And that had only made her desire to leave more concrete. She wanted to experience the world beyond the wall. She wanted to see birds flying above her head, wanted to see fish swimming in a river or lake and wanted to see these things called squirrels that supposedly lived in trees. She wanted to see many things, but the only way to do that, would be to leave the safety of the walls.

So, to prepare for that, she took up archery. It was difficult to convince her grandfather, but since archery was a respectable sport, she was allowed to practice, in the privacy of her own backyard with a private tutor. She was given very light bows, and was outfitted with special gloves and wrist protectors to protect her delicate hands and wrists from the bow and string. She knew, from reading about the sport, that her targets were always placed closer than if she were a boy, and her tutor didn't take her training very seriously at all. He was always telling her how to draw the bow while using the least amount of effort, so that she wouldn't build unsightly muscles, and how she should stand to look more feminine, and not to worry so much about aiming. Everything he told her was in direct conflict with what she read about the proper method for firing a bow. And so, she began to teach herself, under the guise of "practicing" what her archery tutor was teaching her.

As it turned out, she had rather a natural affinity for archery, and when she learned the correct stance and the correct way to draw her bow, it came to her very quickly and her aim and skill increased by leaps and bounds. After only a few months of practice she could hit the target close to the center every time, and she began moving it further and further back. Of course she continued to miss the target during her actual tutoring sessions, just to keep her tutor happy and comfortable. He always seemed to get rather disturbed if she hit the target too often during his lessons.

It was just her strength she had to work on, and she did everything she could to get to the point that she could draw a fifty pound bow, with minimal strain. It took a while, but she stuck with it, knowing that she would need to be able to protect herself if she was going to be sneaking outside of the walls. Of course she had to hide her muscles, wearing looser blouses and long sleeves to make sure her thicker arms weren't visible. But it was a fair price to pay.

Once she had gotten good enough, she commissioned the making of a beautiful bow, a real work of art, which overnight became her priced possession. The wood was stained a deep, gorgeous bright red, and the handle was wrapped with white. From either side of the handle were stylized wings that had been beautifully carved into the red wood, symbolizing her freedom. That had been a special request of hers, and she had been forced to pay many of her saved coins just for the decoration, but she felt it was worth it.

It was a powerful weapon, and not something she would ever be allowed to own, so to buy it she had to disguise herself and go to someone who had the talent and also didn't care who was purchasing as long as they had the money. But of course if her grandfather found out, it would be taken away from her, so she hid it carefully. She likewise commissioned a good number of high quality arrows, ones that were sturdy enough to handle the spiritual power that sometimes overflowed from her into them.

Spiritual powers tended to run in families, and since her grandfather was the head wizard, magic ran strongly in her genetics, which was why both she and her brother had been born with it. However, her brother had less natural affinity for it than her, a fact which she knew since she had the ability to actually sense magic and spiritual powers. However it was a fact she would never be able to prove, or ever really wanted to prove. She loved her brother, and she knew that the knowledge would hurt his self-esteem. He was already a relatively shy boy, he needed all the confidence he could get.

As a woman, she wasn't allowed to use her spiritual powers, and so once again, while her brother trained at a specialized academy for that as well, she had yet another private tutor. Despite being forbidden from using her powers, she still needed training to be able to control it, and all her lessons consisted of how to discharge her powers, how to channel it into crystals at night until she was so exhausted she would simply pass out, how to basically dull all her magical batteries until she was literally incapable of using it in any way. She was never taught how to use it or how to channel it into anything productive.

She was taught only the fundamentals, and sparingly at that, only enough to control her spiritual powers. Aside from that, her lessons included some theory and history, all of which was geared towards impressing how dangerous spiritual powers could be. Mostly Kagome found her lessons annoying and boring as all get out, but she had to attend, otherwise her grandfather would throw a hissy fit. This only served to make her want to explore what else there was to life than this dull, boring existence.

Sure, she was allowed to leave the house, but only if she was accompanied by her personal maidservants, Ayumi, Yuki, and Eri. They were her only friends, ironically, despite technically being her servants. But the four of them had great fun wandering around the shopping district of Gate City. Being the head wizard meant that her grandfather was quite wealthy, and so she was allowed to indulge in shopping on a regular basis.

Outside of pleasure shopping, she also enjoyed shopping with the kitchen staff and learning about various kinds of foods and ingredients. Those excursions were a little iffier, and not necessarily sanctioned by her grandfather, because no-one told him. There was one woman amongst the kitchen staff who was truly like a mother to her, and she thoroughly enjoyed shopping with the woman and learning all about cooking.

But even with these distractions, she still felt confined, like there had to be more to life than this comfortable, relatively boring existence.

And so, it wasn't long before she made her first excursion out beyond the wall.

That evening, she slipped into the narrow alleyway behind that one building and scaled the side in the way she had done so many time before, but this time she did it with a pack strapped to her front, so she could still use her back as support against the wall. She had packed some provisions, her bow and arrows, and some medical supplies. Once atop the wall, she was stymied by the barrier, which would have prevented anyone else from passing. However, given her penchant for going into forbidden places, particularly where there was information to be gathered, she had snuck into her grandfather's office and had copied the magical password for the barrier which would allow her to pass. So, she pressed her hand to the faintly blue glowing wall and whispered the secret phrase.

To her delight, a door opened up, allowing her through. Of course then she was confronted by the fifty foot drop on the other side of the barrier. She had also planned for that though, so with shaking and sweaty hands she tied the fifty foot rope she had hauled up with her to a stone pipe that suck out some from the building behind her. The rope had been knotted, so it was relatively easy to scale down the wall, but stepping off of the edge of the wall to be suspended fifty feet in the air by a rope had Kagome's heart pounding out a frightened rhythm in her chest and her stomach overturned, making her desperately hope that she wouldn't throw up on herself on the way down.

Thankfully she made it to the ground below her with no mishaps, and collapsed onto hands and knees, panting and shivering a little from adrenaline.

After a quick breather, she set off quickly, not afraid of being seen since she was a good distance from the gate. She entered the forest line with a giddy feeling welling up within her, her eyes wide and flicking to and fro as she took in all the sights presented to her. She was shocked by…everything. The feeling of the trees, how tall they were…it was astounding. She had never been allowed in the orchards, so she had no frame of reference, but based on seeing it from a distance she would wager that these wild trees were much, much taller and heftier. There was also lots of shrubbery and scrub bushes, herbs, and plants of all shapes and sizes made her trek a slow one as she waded through the brush. She quickly wished that she had worn pants, since her skirt offered little protection against the rather sharp twigs and branches that scratched her legs.

Her headscarf was quickly torn off by a branch, and she swiftly snatched it back, quick to stuff it into her pack so she could put it back on once she was ready to return home. Women were supposed to cover their heads and hair with long scarfs that were held onto their head usually with a band of cloth or a band of metal. In her case it was held on with a metal circlet, and she placed her circlet carefully in her pack as well.

She didn't venture far that day, but she did stumble across a small cave, one that was quite lovely and set next to a running stream. She found herself enthralled watching the rushing water, seeing small fishes swimming inside the crystal clear water.

Wanting to be able to return to this place, she took a bandage and marked a tree on the way back by tying a small shred to a branch.

She had already possessed a habit of skipping her lessons on a regular basis, and so she doubted anyone would be suspicious if she snuck out during the day as well, which was why she didn't hesitate to slip out the next day for a longer trek through the woods without threat of the sun setting. Aside from being careful not to get caught and wearing a costume made of servant's clothes to stay inconspicuous, she found it relatively easy to sneak out once again. Since everyone, aside from her, was terrified of leaving the safety of the wall, no one would ever suspect what she was up to.

After sneakily scaling the wall, making sure that she wasn't seen, she sprinted across the clear space from the wall to the woods quickly, even though no one would see her from this side. Once in the shade of the trees, she followed her marked path back to the little cave. On the way she began clearing out some of the brush, making a path for herself. It wasn't much; she only needed a small path, so she didn't do too much damage to the vegetation in her creation.

The next day she got a little further; and the path building continued day after day until she had a nice little trail that she could walk, all the way to her little secret hideaway. That became her base of operations. And from there she ventured this way and that into the woods, finding little stones and pieces of bark, and other small treasures which she took with her and placed back in her little cave.

On her excursions she saw all sorts of things. She saw squirrels, and was so intrigued by them that she sat and watched their antics for a full hour one day. She thoroughly enjoyed watching the fish swimming in the stream, and occasionally tried to catch some by scooping them out in her palms. Only once or twice was she able to actually catch one, and after the water had drained from her cupped palms she had let it go back into the water. She also thoroughly enjoyed seeing dragonflies and butterflies for the first time. But she wasn't quite so pleased in finding out about the biting insects that would make itchy and painful bumps on her skin. Those sorts of creatures were inside the walls too, but seemed to be much more heavily populated here in the woods.

The first time she saw a deer it had nearly frightened her out of her wits, but once she had realized what it must be, based on the descriptions of such creatures she had read about before, she had become quite intrigued. It had let her follow it, and as long as she didn't get too close or make any threatening moves it seemed fine with her presence. A few days later she had found a broken antler on the ground and took it back to her cave as a souvenir. She had also found butterfly wings occasionally that she collected, and quite a few beautiful feathers. She was particularly fond of feathers, perhaps because of her one and only pet back when she was a child. In a way, she couldn't help but find her collection amusing, comparing it to her grandfather's back in their fancy house. His was of incredibly rare and expensive items, and yet here she was collecting items that she had found in the woods. Yet, somehow she doubted he was as fond of his as she was of hers, or at least she felt like she was more sentimental about her collection.

And so her adventures went. She was very careful about not getting caught, and told no one about her adventures, not even her maid friends. She did have to be careful not to show any evidence of her adventures, but occasionally she would turn up with some scrapes and scratches that her friends were befuddled about. They questioned her, never guessing that she was sneaking out over the wall. Instead, they seemed to have come to the conclusion that she must have acquired a secret boyfriend that she went to meet, perhaps out in the rural areas around the city, which would explain the grass stains and dirt she sometimes unintentionally brought back with her. She never dissuaded the notion, and they always kept her secret.

Her grandfather was so busy that he didn't notice her absence, as long as she showed up for most of her tutoring sessions he didn't care. But she knew from experience that if she missed too many she would get was a stern lecture on responsibility along with perhaps a grounding in her room with no food for a certain length of time. Those punishments were manageable though, what she really did her best to avoid were the more serious penalties, and if he found out about the grass and mud stains, or caught wind of this secret boyfriend thing, he would undoubtedly inforce one of his capitol punishments. Occasionally he had grown cross enough with her to order a switching, or even worse a caning, which was never a fun time. She typically walked away from those punishments in tears and with red marks on her back, behind, and/or thighs that wouldn't go away for at least a week.

And so, she was as careful as was physically possible to keep him from finding out about her new hobby, balancing it carefully with days where she showed up to all her lessons.

This went on for some time. And then one day, something new happened. She saw her very first demon.

It happened out in the woods, in a little clearing that she had found and had been picking flowers in. After kneeling and picking flowers, she had the pollen all over her, and was thankful that she had a spare set of clothes with her to change into. She had taken to bringing spares to minimize the risks of being found out.

While she was busy wiping halfheartedly at the yellow stains now adorning her, she froze, hearing a large rustling sound fast approaching. Adrenaline rushed through her and she darted out of the clearing, heading for a very thick brush in which to hide. She was lucky, because underneath the bush were some very strong smelling herbs that masked her scent, a fact that went unnoticed by her, but which saved her from being found out by the keen-nosed demon who was approaching.

It wasn't long before she saw through a gap in the bushes, a man enter the clearing she had just been in. Going by what she had always been taught, anyone in these woods was either a demon, or one of the few people from Oceana who were allowed beyond the walls. Looking at this guy, he wasn't carrying any sort of hunting gear or logging equipment. He only carried a sword with him, and wasn't even wearing shoes. His outfit was also different from anything she had seen inside the walls. Most people there favored what was called "western" dress. She had heard a rumor that some foreign brochure or book had managed to get through the cracks of security banning those sorts of materials and the style had gone viral. But this guy looked to be wearing what seemed to be traditional feudal Japanese clothes - bright red drawstring hakama, with a white kosode poking through the holes at his hips, and an equally red suikan that was tucked into his hakama. It was foreign to her, since she had been grown up around the western wear, but she recognized it from the history books.

He was definitely a demon, even if he wasn't anything like what she had thought a demon would look like. They had always been portrayed as evil, ugly, disgusting creatures, but this young man looked like none of those things. He looked relatively normal in fact, except for a pair of fluffy pointed ears on his head. His long hair was also strange, since she was used to men typically possessing very, very short hair and close cut beards. His hair, on the other hand, was down to his butt and was _white_. He definitely wasn't an old man, so the white color wasn't natural.

In fact, this young man seemed to be about her age, and was actually quite attractive. She was shocked that a demon could look like this, and as she watched she was amazed by the grace with which he strolled through the clearing, that long hair of his blowing back in a breeze.

Her curiosity and intrigue was peeked, and she watched him as he made his way to the other side of the clearing. Being now coated in pollen and the stench of the herbs she had been hiding in, her scent was masked, and when she snuck after him he didn't notice her by smell. He did however, begin to hear small rustles and she froze, hiding once again when she saw his ears twitch in her direction.

After that, she maintained a greater distance and stayed even quieter. He eventually stopped to hop up into a tree, lying down and seeming for all the world like he was ready to take a nap perched 20 feet above the ground on a tree branch. If his ears hadn't been so wolf-like she would have thought he was a squirrel demon.

She watched him for a time, enthralled by everything about him and wishing she could go up and talk to him without risk of him attacking. He didn't look evil, but she was a human, and demons and humans didn't typically get along.

Eventually, she had to sneak away to go home before her grandfather could notice her absence. She did so reluctantly though, wishing she could stay and watch this strange, beautiful creature longer. As soon as she got home she snuck into the forbidden section of the library on demons and began her research anew, trying to figure out what this new person could have been. Eventually she had to settle on either a cat or dog demon, based on the ears, or perhaps a raccoon or something. Having pointy ears wasn't a lot to go on. She did however find out some very interesting things, and realized swiftly that she had been incredibly lucky to be covered in all those smells, finding out that most demons had keen senses of smell. After that, she took care to carry several very pungent herbs to mask her smell whenever she ventured into the woods.

After the first sighting, Kagome saw him one or two more times in the woods, and observed him from a distance, growing more and more fascinated with every sighting.

Sometimes she wondered if he knew she was there, because from time to time he would stop and his ears would swivel in her direction, at which point she would always freeze. She was sure she caught him looking in her direction every now and then too. But he never seemed to be interested in pursuing her, probably because he was waiting for her to attack, at which point he would have undoubtedly swung around and killed her. If she had been a hunter, she would have had to be stupid to not expect that though. Still, whatever the case, whether he knew she was there or not, the fact remained that she was allowed to follow him unmolested, and that was all that mattered to her.

The only problem was that the more she snuck around and watched him from afar, the more she wanted to actually get to know him, talk to him, ask him his name at the very least. And above all else, she was dying to touch his ears, because they were intoxicatingly cute. Of course, even if she ever did have the opportunity to talk to him without risk of being hurt, killed, and possibly eaten, she would undoubtedly never have the gumption to touch his ears. That would likely be highly offensive.

The desire to talk to him grew stronger and stronger, which did dampen her enjoyment of watching him some, but she was still fascinated enough by him that simply watching him walk around, or more often taking a nap, was enough for her to almost always be late getting back behind the wall on the days she had spotted him. Of course there was still that ever-present fear as well, that he was a dangerous demon, and could most likely kill her in a second if he found her and so desired, and that adrenaline rush also became a bit addictive.

After a few months of this, she became very nearly obsessed with this interesting fellow. She grew to look forward to seeing him. Every day she ventured beyond the walls she hoped to catch a glimpse of red and white, signaling that the red robe and white hair of her new object of attention was near.

It was one such day, as she carefully stomped through the brush of the forest, looking around for treasures and interesting animals to watch, that she once again saw red through the branches and leaves. Swiftly concealing herself, she crept closer, until she got a view through the greenery. He was resting against a tree, asleep, or so she thought at first as she took in his leaning posture and slumped head. But on second inspection, she began to note that he wasn't in the most comfortable of slouched positions, which struck her as odd. So, she edged her way closer, trying to get a clearer look at him.

Once she succeeded, she looked, and looked, and looked some more, and soon she realized that there was a strange red stain on his red jacket that was darker and looked glossy, like it was wet. It wasn't long before she made the determination that it looked like blood, and a lot of it.

Her heart dropped, and it felt like she had swallowed a bucket full of ice as her insides froze and her intestines and stomach seemed to cramp up painfully in distress. Biting her lips she inched closer, afraid, both of him and for him as she grew nearer. He didn't wake up, which was both good and bad, since it meant that he didn't attack her, but it also meant that he must be seriously injured.

Eventually, she had crept right up to him, closer than she had ever been before, and she could clearly see that he had been beaten terribly. His face was a mess of blood, spit, and dirt, his clothes in much worse shape, and his claws, which she only just noticed, were also caked in biological matter. She wasn't entirely sure he was even alive, given his pale complexion and his utter stillness.

Hesitantly scooting even closer, she reached forwards, her hand shaking as it neared his skin. She paused, an inch from making contact, and then gulped, taking a deep, steadying breath, before resting her fingers on his neck to check his pulse. She released the breath on a relieved sigh as she felt warmth and a resounding pulse underneath her fingertips. Once she had ascertained that he was in fact still alive, she had to decide what to do next. She wanted to help him, but she wasn't really sure how exactly she should go about it.

It would be risky, any way she decided to act, so after some pondering she decided to try and haul him to her cave, which, as luck would have it, was only a short distance away from where he had collapsed. And so, with this goal held firmly in her mind, she steeled her nerves and reached for him once again, grabbing hold of him firmly this time, and hoisting his arm over her shoulder. She got a weak groan in protest for her efforts and she froze, concerned that he was coming to. When all he did was slump against her, panting into her collarbone and whimpering in pain, she unfroze and hurried to clumsily drag him to her shelter.

He seemed to wake up a little more as she lugged him the short distance, and he muttered a very confused "Wha…?" into her shoulder, sounding a bit drunk with his speech slurred.

In response, she just murmured back as quietly and soothingly as she could, "I'm taking you somewhere safe, to help you. You're seriously injured and need medical treatment."

Her words must have reached him in some capacity, because he settled down some and managed somehow to support just a little of his own weight as he swung back and forth between unconsciousness. With that, she was able to get him to the cave, where she laid him down on a soft reed pallet she had constructed for short naps a while back. Once he was settled, she hurried to find her medkit and go through it, looking for anything that might help him. She grabbed anything that looked useful and set it aside, before kneeling next to him and quickly undoing his shirt to look at his wounds, flushing as she did so.

Her embarrassment eased dramatically when she got an eyeful of the brutal gouges and holes in his skin and torso, which were bleeding profusely. She had no idea how he was even alive, given the extent of the damage, and she had to surmise that demons must be much tougher than humans if he had been able to survive this much physical trauma. She did her very best to not throw up or pass out, as she gingerly tucked the little bit of intestine that was poking out of a particularly deep hole back inside him, after checking to make sure that it wasn't damaged. As soon as that was done she did have to step outside to throw up in the bushes as fast as she could, knowing that time was of the essence, but that throwing up on him would probably give him an infection.

Wiping her mouth off with a spare cloth, she quickly made her way back in after taking a deep breath to fortify herself. Settling back down next to him she worked hurriedly. She cleaned the wounds to the best of her ability, getting some winces and moans from him as she used alcohol to sanitize everything and used a clean rag to wipe the dirt and other stuff out of his gashes. After doing that, she patched him up as well as she possibly could, wincing as she lifted flaps of skin and settled them back into place, piecing him together like a jigsaw puzzle. It looked like he had gotten into a very bad disagreement with something that possessed very long and sharp claws - or maybe several somethings.

As she worked he occasionally winced or whined when she messed with something particularly painful, but overall he seemed blessedly out of it, probably because he had used up what little energy he had left when she had been dragging him here.

After bandaging his front she carefully rolled him to work on his back, which also had a few wounds on it, and then rolled him back to lie on his back, since the majority of the damage was on his front. He also had sustained some wounds on his legs, which she reached by untying the drawstrings at the ankles of his pants and simply pushing his pant leg up to reach the wounds.

It soon came time for her to have to leave, to not raise any suspicion. She had stayed much longer than she should have to tend to him, but she wanted to make sure all the bandages were secure before she left him. And so, she forced herself to return home, going through all the motions of normality to make sure her grandfather didn't grow suspicious. She received a lecture for missing her lessons today, but she apologized profusely and got off with a warning. Waiting in her room for when she could go back over the wall was murder, but she managed to make herself stay put until the house had gone to sleep.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hello all!

So, since I'm going to be posting two stories at once, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to try to post the new chapter of this story every Wednesday (or as close as possible) and then post the new chapter of my other Inuyasha story, 'For Him,' on the weekend.

On to this story!

Before I explain the inspiration for this story, I want to see how many people can correctly guess what the plot is based off. I bet a lot of you will pick it up quick. ;) I'll give hints at the end of every chapter, and then eventually I'll just explain it fully, once I've had my fun.

Also, I'm going to do my best to have each chapter pretty much the same length, but some may be a bit shorter and some may be a bit longer.

As always, please review and let me know what you think. :3


	2. Chapter 2

Once night fell she snuck out again, the first time she had ever done so in the dark. Descending the rope in pitch blackness was terrifying and if she could see she would have seen how her knuckles turned white on the rope.

Once down she found it exceptionally difficult to find the path, even with the help of a lamp, but she did eventually find the correct way and made her slow, careful way to the cave. Once there she started up a small fire for light and warmth, and set about checking all his bandages. Some of them had bled through and so she fixed them, putting fresh ones on.

This time, while she patched him up again he fidgeted, his head tossing every so often and sounds grumbling out of his chest. He wasn't necessarily growling, he sounded more like he was fussing at her. Occasionally a deep whine would escape whenever she prodded something particularly painful and in response she softly murmured calming words, things like, "Easy there, I know it hurts but I'll be done in just a minute and it'll feel better."

As she worked, she hummed softly, finding that he quieted down a little at the sound. She didn't hum anything specific at first, but after a while one of her favorite lullabies started inching through, verses and cords becoming more and more solid in the meaningless music. Eventually she was softly singing the entire lullaby to him as she finished patching him up. By that time he had quieted down and she noticed his ears pricked in her direction. So she kept at it, singing the same song, which was quite long with many verses, and then when she ran out of verses she started making new ones up.

She sat beside him for a while. His face had dirt still caked onto it, and so after a bit she wetted a cloth and very gently cleaned his face, humming and singing to him as she did so. He truly was beautiful, with a long slightly upturned nose, thick silver eyebrows that angled up and large eyes that she could imagine must be very expressive when he was awake, since even passed out his eyebrows scrunched and crinkled and his eyes flickered under his closed lids. His face was young, he was only maybe a year older than her, which would put him in the age range of 18 or so. His face was somewhat heart shaped and narrowed to a sharp, square jaw and a narrow chin. His top lip was thin with a bit of a cupid's bow to it, while his bottom lip was fuller.

Over all, Kagome found that she enjoyed herself as she cleaned his face, admiring his features thoroughly as she did so. She never would have thought she would be attracted to a demon, until she saw this one. Then again, she never thought they could even be attractive. And yet, she found her heart rate increasing as she gently swiped the moist cloth across his skin.

Once his face was clean, she glanced him over, and noted that his hands were still a bloody, grimy mess, and it wasn't his blood that was making them dirty. So, with a grimace, she scooped up one hand, only to pause and blink wide eyed at just how long and sharp his claws were. After getting over her shock, she wiped down his hands and fingers, cleaning all the blood and dirt off them, before then using the edge of the cloth to clean blood and chunks of flesh out from under his nails, which had her dry heaving out of disgust. She took some comfort from the knowledge that he at least got his own back, judging by the amount of damage he must have done with the evidence she found.

By this point she was just about falling asleep, and so she forced herself to haul her butt back to the wall, and then over the wall, and then home so she could pass out. She still had to attend her lessons the next day, which she did, though she slept through most of it. She woke up near the end of her lessons, just in time to get impatient to go see her new demon friend. After a few last minutes of utter boredom, she was finally released, and made a beeline for the wall. She hopped the wall faster than ever before, and jogged the whole way down the path to her little cave. She stalled a little way from the cave, a sudden wash of unease sweeping through her as she suddenly realized that he might have woken up. Walking in on an awake, injured, cornered, demon was not a safe plan.

So, instead of hustling into the cave, she eased up to it more slowly, her heart rate increasing as she inched closer to the opening of the cave. As soon as she was within viewing distance, she edged her way to the side, leaning off-balance until she could peer into the opening and see a little ways in. When she saw his prone feet still where they had been last night, she blew out a relieved breath of air, and walked with a little more confidence up to the mouth, pausing for another half second to verify that he was indeed still knocked out.

He was, so she continued into the cave, eyeballing him carefully. He was utterly passed out, there was no hint of awakeness, so she didn't hesitate to mess with his bandages, checking all his wounds. She was amazed by the amount of healing he had done in the few short hours she had left him alone. It had been less than half a day since he had bled through the bandages, and now he was barely bleeding at all, his torn flesh had begun knitting together, and new pink skin had already begun to pop up here and there. It was utterly amazing.

She had little to do, many of the wounds didn't even need bandages any more, though she still put them on just for safety's sake. As she messed with him, he began to fuss at her again like last time, so she started up with her lullaby, since it worked so well the night before. As before, he settled down some, seeming to listen to her. Maybe he just thought she sounded weird and he was somewhere in there laughing too hard to fuss anymore. Whatever the case, it worked, so she continued doing it.

After a little while, she noticed that his tongue was sticking out a bit. She had been so focused on his chest wounds, and other wounds, that she hadn't noticed. Now that she did notice, she blinked and frowned getting closer to his face to get a better look. Yes, his tongue was poking out a little and he was breathing through his mouth, almost panting really. Having a thought, she reaching out and gingerly very lightly poked his tongue. It zipped back in his mouth, but not before she felt the weird velvety texture of a totally dried tongue. After a few moments it poked back out. He was thirsty.

So, she quickly grabbed a water bag and took it out to the stream, filling up the flexible bladder with clear running water. Soon it was overfull and she had to squeeze a little out to screw the cap back on to carry it back into the cave. Once inside, she paused, pursed her lips, looked at the water bag in her hand, then looked at the demon's parted lips, wondering how she was going to get the water in his mouth without drowning him.

She decided to half-way empty the bag to give her more control over the water, and then started by very, very slowly dripping just a tiny bit onto his tongue. He immediately smacked his lips and then seemed to blindly hunt for the liquid that had just accosted him. She dripped a little more on his lips, which parted and he sipped at the water that she slowly fed to him. After giving him a whole half-bag of water, she decided he might be hungry too, and so she boiled up a pot of some small broth cubes that she tended to bring with her in case she got hungry. Once the broth was done and cooled enough that it wouldn't burn him, she tried feeding him in the same manner, ladling it into the bottle. He was even more eager to lap at this liquid, and he nearly grabbed the tip of the bottle in his shockingly sharp teeth before she managed to jerk it back at the last second, earning herself a growl. She didn't need any coaxing to get him to finish the entire pot's-worth of broth.

By the end of it, she was a tiny bit aggravated, amused, and nearly giddy that she had been able to feed him, which she realized guiltily she probably should have tried sooner. After he was done he sighed in a surprisingly cute way that she took to mean he was satisfied, and she grinned, feeling a surge of warm fuzzies. She parked herself next to him and on a whim reached out to pet one of his shockingly soft white fluffy ears. She had wanted to touch these for so long; she was helpless to stop the desire from manifesting into a physical touch now that it seemed he was out of danger.

As she lightly ran her fingers over the warm shell before petting his whole ear with a flat hand, she watched as his face relaxed and his dark silver eyelashes fluttered happily. She smiled fondly, wishing she could get to know this person.

She knew nothing about him, and yet she found herself caring an alarming amount about his wellbeing, hoping he was comfortable and not in too much pain. She felt a pang deep in her chest, a tightening as she realized that probably he would be gone soon and she might never even see him again after this. They were from completely different worlds. If roles were reversed, he probably wouldn't have done the same for her, for all she knew he might have _eaten_ her. And yet, despite everything she knew about demons, she found it hard to believe that he would. She worryingly felt as if she was getting to know him somehow, even though he was passed out. And she knew, with a sinking feeling in her gut, that that was just wishful thinking on her part.

With a heavy sigh she muttered, "I wonder what your name is. Where do you come from? Where is your home? I know nothing about you, and yet…somehow…" she sighed again. "Well. I guess it doesn't matter. But for what it's worth, my name's Kagome."

As his ears pricked in her direction, she chuckled. "I can't help but think that you like the sound of my voice. Your ears always turn in my direction when I talk, or sing. Of course, that might just be automatic. I doubt you can actually hear me." She paused, thinking. "Can you hear me if you're passed out? I think I heard somewhere that it was possible, but I find that hard to believe."

He snorted in his sleep, and she snickered. "Yeah, I agree, kinda a silly notion right?"

She kept talking to him as she sat next to his prone form, mostly just carrying on a conversation with herself. She told him about various things, talking about the wall and what lay inside and how she had always wanted to come and visit this side. She pondered more on where he might be from and if there was anyone worried about him.

"Do you have any demon friends?" She asked, pausing for a reply that of course never came. "Well, I do. I have three friends, but technically they're my maids. And I have a little brother. I think he might like you, if…well if you weren't a demon. But you look pretty cool, especially with that sword you always carry. I bet he would think you were cool too."

After many hours, she realized that she needed to leave, and so regretfully she pulled herself away, beating feet back to her house in record time so she could be home by dinner time. He always ate dinner super late, so it wasn't a problem, but if she wasn't home she would be in deep doo-doo.

Thankfully she made it in time, with enough to spare to change. She was able to hold a conversation through dinner, despite her mind being preoccupied by a certain injured demon in her care. Once again, waiting for everyone to fall asleep nearly killed her, but finally she was able to sneak out once more and scale the wall to get to her invalid. He was still where she left him.

This time she started with water, and more broth, both of which he eagerly participated in. Then she checked his wounds to see that they had healed even more. And then she sat next to him and talked to him. It was a pattern that quickly stuck, and soon, every time she was able to sneak away she went through it. Whenever she could, she went to the cave, spending as much time there as possible. She found herself growing more and more attached to her unwitting patient, which she tried very hard not to, but failed miserably at. It had only been a short few days, but already she felt herself caring for this demon in ways she shouldn't.

And so, when after visiting him, about two days after finding him, she ran into a hunter on the way back she froze, panicking. The only thought in her head at first, was that she absolutely could not let them find the demon in her care. She was just glad that she had left the path to go hunt for some berries and other edibles, otherwise she would have been screwed. As it was, she was still in pretty deep trouble.

"Demon!" the man shouted, drawing his own bow.

Kagome had the brief, and rather harsh realization that this guy thought she was a demon before an arrow was shot her way. She managed to dodge it through sheer luck, and drew her own bow off her shoulder, not wanting to shoot the guy but needing some sort of weapon for self-defense.

Meanwhile she tried to reason with him. "I'm not a demon!"

"Shut up! Everyone knows only demons are in these woods - demons and hunters - and you're a female, so you can't be a hunter."

To his credit, his logic was infallible. After all, what stupid human would ever wander out here when everyone was supposed to be deathly afraid of the woods?

He shot another few arrows her way, and one of them hit, piercing her in the leg. She yelped, flinching and falling back as the wave of pain made her stagger in shock. She had never experienced pain like this before, and she was at a loss of what to do, but she realized she needed to do something and fast, otherwise she was going to die. So, she managed to shakily draw an arrow and packed it with as much spiritual energy as she could, aiming for the top of his bow.

She blew off the top of his bow with a shower of sparks, which bought her a little bit of time. Wincing, she attempted to drag herself away, in the opposite direction of the cave. The more space she could put between him and her friend the better. She knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill a defenseless injured demon, in fact he would probably gloat at it, and that was simply not going to happen, not if she had anything to say about it.

He charged her then, coming at her with knives. She fought him off the best she could, but he was an experienced demon fighter and he quickly overwhelmed her, especially given her already injured state.

He laughed. "You sure are a weak one. What? No acid spitting? No special abilities? Come on, show me at least a little fang. This is no fun at all."

"I already told you! I'm not a demon!" She yelled, scrambling back on hands and knees as he advanced.

"Hah! Yeah right!" He snapped back, and went after her again.

It was lucky she hadn't been able to drain her spiritual powers the way she technically was supposed to, because she was able to blast him off her by releasing a bunch of it at once. He was knocked back a ways, and she scrambled on hands and knees still, trying to get up and at least limp away - something, anything to put some sort of distance between her and this guy. How ironic was it that she had been sharing the space of a demon for weeks now, and hadn't ever been hurt, but at the first human she saw she ended up down on the ground bleeding within minutes. Maybe it was humans who were the monsters, and not demons.

He slowly got back to his feet, squinting at her now and looking confused. "Hey…that wasn't demonic power you just used. That was spiritual power, like, the kind that holds up the barrier."

It took him a while, but after some serious thinking he stomped over to her and grabbed her, yanking her to her knees and standing above her, before leaning down to get a closer look at her. She yelped, but couldn't do anything as he manhandled her, shoving a finger in her mouth to get a look at her teeth and then grabbing her hands to look at her nails. He grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked it to the side, pulling some out in the process which got a wince from her, and he looked closely at her ears. Then he looked at her clothes.

Eventually, even he was forced to admit that she was indeed human.

With a very confused, very perturbed, very angry expression, the guy looked at her like she was worse than a demon. He was shocked and horrified obviously, and she had no words to try and defend herself with. Nothing she could do or say now would get her out of this mess. And so, she remained quiet as he jerked her around some more and walked around behind her to tie her hands together, binding them so tightly that she immediately began to lose feeling in her fingertips.

He yanked her to her feet, which was not fun given the arrow in her thigh, and she yelped, immediately collapsing and nearly taking him with her. With a great deal of grunting and cursing he came back around to her front and scowled at the wound that he had inflicted. With no warning he reached down and yanked it out, getting a shriek of pain and shock from her, and she nearly keeled over with the pain, her body reacting on its own accord and throwing her back to curl into a protective ball. He roughly tied a bandage made out of a strip of materiel around her leg and then hauled her to her feet again and marched her back towards the Wall Gate.

It was bad, very, very bad that she had been caught because going beyond the wall was a capital offense, one that was never exactly enforced since no-one was stupid enough to want to risk trying their luck in the woods. But she knew that technically she could be executed for this, her head lopped off probably very publicly. The thought of it made her numb with terror, and she gazed back over her shoulder longingly back towards where she had come from, wishing she had never left that cave.

And then, as if it wasn't all bad enough, being a prominent family within the kingdom made it even worse. Her having snuck out was a deep blow to her family's reputation. Even if she somehow managed to escape the law, her grandfather was going to kill her, maybe even literally. His worst punishment had been over something much less than this, and it had been almost as bad as getting shot by an arrow, though just lasting longer and not being quite so intense all at once. He was going to have her beaten, there was no doubt about that.

And so as she was hauled roughly through the streets after they somehow managed to get through the gates without anyone noticing her, she felt a deep unbridled terror threaten to overpower her as possibilities flooded her mind. What would happen to her? Going outside the walls was unheard of, an ultimate offense that no one would ever commit…no one except her that is. What would her grandfather do? Would he just hand her over to be punished by the law, or would he take her punishment into his own hands? Either way would end very badly for her, but she was hopeful that her grandfather at least wouldn't kill her.

By the time she was thrown to the ground in front of her house she was blinded by the frightened tears that flowed from her eyes. She clenched her teeth, not making a sound, but was helpless to stop her eyes from watering at the intense emotional turmoil. She knelt in front of her house, her entire face numb with shock and horror as she waited for the hammer to fall. She waited with her breath stuck in her burning chest, unable to take new air in because the old refused to come out.

The man who had caught her banged on the door aggressively, which got the maid on duty out very quickly, which turned out to be Ayumi. As the furious visitor explained the situation, Kagome saw the Ayumi's eyes dart towards her slumped form with great concern, but she was forced to run a message to Kagome's grandfather, even though it was obvious she didn't want to.

Her grandfather arrived soon after huffing and puffing, the shrine where he worked as the head wizard of the country and also the head monk of the shrine, only being a little way away from their house. Along with being out of breath he was also red in the face, obviously angry about being called away from work.

As he was filled in, he didn't seem to believe what he was being told, however the evidence was undeniable. Kagome was injured, dirty, covered in leaves from trees that simply didn't grow inside the walls, and carried with her a weapon he had never seen before, which in and of itself was unheard of. Women simply did not carry weapons. If they participated in sports such as archery, the bows were locked up at the archery range. Women never possessed bows of their own.

As he finally accepted that the charges were true, something in him clicked. From out of her peripheral vision, Kagome saw that his face turned beet red with fury and then did an abrupt reversal and turned sheet white. She couldn't look him in the eye and kept her head down in shame, closing her eyes after she saw him turn and stiffly walk away, scrubbing a hand over his face as he did so.

She listened to him pace, back and forth, back and forth.

It was obvious he was struggling about what he should do with her. Thankfully the guy hadn't shouted out about what was going on, so there was a slight possibility that her grandfather wouldn't be forced to turn her over. After a great deal of pacing, Kagome flinched and cracked an eye as she heard the footsteps stop and low voices replaced the rhythmic sound. She glanced up as her grandfather handed over a fat purse to the man, frowning fiercely and obviously both bribing and threatening the man.

The hunter glanced at the thick purse in his hand, took one look at her grandfather, who was glaring and slightly sparking with threatening spiritual energy, and took the purse with no fuss. He turned and left, swearing that he wouldn't tell anyone about what he had found out in the woods this afternoon. Kagome finally was able to breathe again, and did so gratefully with short gasping breaths.

He nodded to Ayumi jerkily to grab her and bring her inside, apparently not able to look at her. Ayumi rushed forwards, her curly hair bouncing as she dropped to her knees to untie Kagome's now very purple hands. She whispered thanks, her voice nearly too soft to hear. She was hustled inside and the wound on her leg was tended to by Yuki, who had some training under a priestess that knew herbal remedies.

Soon after that she was summoned by her grandfather, and she met him in his study, an impressive, imposing, and frightening place, full of odd artifacts that were exceptionally powerful and ancient, the few that he allowed to stay outside of his collection room. He took extra pride in each and every one of them.

He was sitting on a floor pillow, but still refused to look at her and didn't ask her to sit so she awkwardly stood. After a long tense silence he finally spoke. "Kagome…I don't know why you did what you did. But it can never happen again." His voice shook, full of anger and though she didn't know it, fear for her safety.

He nodded and someone came in the side door, carrying her bow and arrows. They were handed off to him, and then the male servant retreated, standing just inside the door. Her grandfather looked the bow over, and then stood, carried it over to the fireplace and threw it in silently.

"No! Please, don't do this." She begged, crying as her one and only possession that she was actually proud of went up in flames. She started for the fireplace, right as he tossed in her quiver full of arrows, which sparked and popped as the reinforced, purified wood went up in flames. She would have gone and grabbed them right out, even despite the fact that they were already burning and doing so would only result in her getting hurt and probably setting fire to the house.

The male servant, from before, swiftly grabbed her, restraining her firmly and all she could do was watch as her bow and arrows turned to black, charred, useless firewood. She gritted her teeth, actually angry now, against all the odds.

"You didn't have to do that!"

"Yes I did. That was nothing a young girl like you should have ever owned." He barked back harshly, returning to sit down.

She fumed silently.

After a long pause, he continued. "You will never go beyond the walls again. In fact you will never leave this house again."

As she began to protest, he raised his hand, finally looking at her to give her the angriest, most disappointed glare she had ever seen before. His eyes felt like they literally burned her, and she was forced to look away, unable to bear seeing that look in his eyes.

Once she had quieted again, he said, "To insure you will not disobey me ever again you must be punished severely. I have given you much too much freedom, even allowing you to pursue archery despite everyone advising me not to. And this is how you repay my trust? No Kagome, for your own safety you must learn and obey the rule of the world."

"But everyone's wrong about the forest, it isn't as dangerous as everyone makes it out to be. I've been coming and going for months now, and I've only gotten some scrapes!"

At her continued protest he finally lost it.

"Darn it all Kagome! Do you even know what you did?! You breached the wall! You made a weak spot, one that has been confounding me for months now! You not only put yourself in danger, but every single one of the citizens that are protected by it! If a demon had broken through thanks to you, you would have probably been put to death. In fact, if anyone in the council found out about your venturing beyond the wall, they would probably become convinced that you were possessed and would exorcise you. Do you even know what that means? It means you would have been burned alive at the stake! After being tortured probably."

At his outburst she grew silent, shamed and impotently still furious.

There was a bit of a stand-off and then he nodded at the servant in the doorway and looked away, handing her off it seemed, for this poor unwitting person to deal with her. She didn't know the guy well, but she knew he worked for her grandfather, and he had obviously been debriefed as to what her punishment was going to be. She already suspected. As a child she had always been a bit wild, and so she had had everything from spanking to switching to caning, but nothing that had ever broken her skin before or even really left bruises that were too bad. She somehow figured that record was about to be broken.

She didn't want to show it, but her nerves were impossible to ignore. And so she went kicking and screaming, her anger at the seeming injustice of it all and her fear making her highly irrational. Truthfully, if she had stopped and thought about it, in some ways she probably partially deserved whatever she was about to receive for breaking the rules so thoroughly, and yet, on the other hand, she was beginning to think that the whole wall thing was a sham to begin with. It didn't seem like any of what she had been taught about demons was correct, she hadn't been eaten alive no matter how many times she went out there, and she was pretty sure the wall was simply a way to control the people who lived inside it. But either way, she doubted she would really, fully deserve being beaten like she suspected she was about to be. And so she protested, loudly.

He dragged her kicking and screaming self through the house, but at one part she had caught sight of Eri, and managed to somehow persuade her captor to let her speak to Eri for just a second. She begged for Eri to keep Sota busy and not let him see whatever was about to happen to her, and her friend solemnly nodded, setting off immediately to find her little brother and protect him from being scarred for life.

Once that had been taken care of, she had calmed down slightly but still dug her heels in and made him work to drag her out the back door, and into the spacious, and ominously empty garden, which was not a good sign. Her grandfather had always made her cut her own switches, thin branches from the one and only very small tree that was pruned to be the pride and joy of their garden since it was so rare. She hadn't ever liked that tree.

This guy though, he hauled her right past that and to a small, hedged, line of bamboo that they had cultivated, again another rarity within the walls. He came to a halt and wordlessly handed her a rather small, dull knife, a lady's knife, the same kind that she had used to hack off her previous punishments so long ago. She looked at it, and then at the bamboo. And then wondered if this guy was insane. First of all, he was handing her a weapon, second of all, there was no way this dinky little knife was going to hack off one of those bamboo.

"Um. I don't think that's going to cut this." She spat.

"If you don't, then it will be twice as worse."

Judging by the dead serious way he said it and looked at her, he meant it. She wondered if fighting him on this would be worth it in the end.

After some debate, she wimped out and decided to do what he said, because she wasn't too keen on making things more difficult for herself. That didn't stop her from yelling and making a huge fuss in protest of this whole thing though as she hacked almost violently at the base of one, just picking one randomly since they would all be vicious and she didn't want to spend any time pondering whether something thin would hurt more than something thick. She sawed at it until sweat ran down her brow and eventually she just stood and kicked at it until it keeled over at the small notch she had managed to make in it.

She handed it off and he set to work with a much longer, much sharper knife, sawing the end off and cutting it to about the length of a cane. He did it stoically, obviously not enthused about this job, but determined to do it nevertheless. Her grandfather must pay him handsomely for him to be so loyal.

As he cut it, she glanced off to the side, looking around for an escape route. Was escape even possible with her bum leg? He would undoubtedly catch her, unless she was somehow able to hide, but that would only make things worse she was sure. If she did actually make a break for it, and managed to hide, she would have to escape entirely, which meant getting out of the wall and basically never looking back. If she didn't make it, she would still be punished, and much worse than before her escape attempt. If she did make it, she would be safe from a whipping, but she would be out of house and home, would have no access to food, would have to rough it entirely, and she was no demon. Without her bow and arrows she was pretty much helpless, and inevitably a demon or something else would find her and probably kill her. That is, if she didn't die of starvation or exposure first. So she wasn't left with much of a choice.

Still, she very nearly went for it anyways out of sheer terror, but before she could do it the guy finished his cutting and grabbed ahold of her, obviously noting how skittish she was. He took away the choice as he tied her hands to the still standing bamboo and advised her, not unkindly, that she should probably hold on to it. She defiantly refused, but abruptly changed her mind as the first crack resounded across her back, nearly sending her face first into the bushy, rough plant, scratching up her cheeks.

She yelled bloody murder in anger, terror, and pain, as the hit sliced across her nerves and made her feel like she had both been smacked by a large piece of wood, bruising all her tissues where it impacted, and also like it had almost cut at her. It was thin enough and he was hitting hard enough that she wasn't surprised when, after only a few blows in, she could feel her shirt rip open in the back, letting the bamboo lay into her bare skin. Bamboo wasn't exactly smooth either, and all those joints turned out to be extra nasty when they cut into her, over and over again, leaving what felt like harsh spots of particularly bad agony along the lines of pain. It was both a whipping and a beating, and her body flinched automatically, twisting away from the blows as they landed to avoid being sliced by the rather sharp end where he had cut it down to size. It only lessened the blows some, but the movement helped a little, as did the loud shrieks and large amount of filth that spewed forth from her mouth. She was not one to use bad language, but she made a special exception for this, and had heard enough of it from the people in the streets as she walked around the city to know enough for this particular event.

The venting helped at least with the terror of each blow, and some with handling it, otherwise she might have simply passed out. At this point though, that didn't seem like such a bad idea as she cringed and felt warmth dripping down from where she had obviously sustained a good amount of physical damage. The entire area was one, big, throbbing, bloody, bruised, mess of agony and torture and she really couldn't handle any more. Her voice started going out and she was already crying, so she sounded utterly pathetic, which honestly didn't matter to her at the moment. She just wanted it to stop.

Maybe it was the way she sounded, or maybe it was the fact that her legs simply gave out and sent her dropping to her knees, or maybe her back was too awful to look at anymore, but whatever the case, the man dropped his cane in the dirt next to her, and stopped. Then she heard his footsteps receding and she was left in blessed quiet. Apparently she was to stay here, tied up, to think about her actions for a while before being allowed back inside. She found that she was too out of it to care.

* * *

Author's Note:

New chapter! Sorry for being a smidge bit late, there will be times when I update on Thursday instead of Wednesday, though I'll try to keep it to a minimum.

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys the new chapter. :3

So, does anyone have any idea yet about what the plot is based off of? Hmmm? I'm all ears. :D Lol, you probably have all guessed it by now.


	3. Chapter 3

She knelt there, defeated and numb emotionally but anything other than numb physically.

She didn't know how long she stayed there, but it was long enough for darkness to start spreading across the sky.

"Hey. Hey you. You there. Squaw! Oi! Squack!"

She slowly looked up, hearing the odd call from above her head. It was a bird, a large, black bird, and it was speaking to her. She wondered if maybe she hadn't passed out or something after all.

"Ah! Finally!" It cawed exasperatedly and fluttered down to land in front of her.

Her sluggish brain came up with one or two pertinent questions and a few obvious conclusions. "You're a demon." She stated, her voice harsh and non-emotional.

The bird nodded.

"How are you in here?"

"Through the same hole you did!" He cawed, flapping excitedly.

She felt her stomach drop out. "What?! But I sealed it closed behind me!"

"Yes you did, I got through with you."

She blinked, not remembering seeing this strange creature, and she was pretty sure she would if she had seen him. "Uh…"

He snorted, which sounded like a croak. "I'm a demon remember?" He suddenly disappeared, and she jumped, looking around wildly.

"Now you don't see me, now you do!" He cawed, popping right back into sight exactly where he had been before.

"So…you can turn invisible?"

The bird nodded and then sidled up to her. "So you like sneaking out beyond the wall do you?"

"Not anymore…" She muttered, looking away.

"What? Just because you got caught?"

"After this, I'll be locked up in the house, probably under constant supervision. I'll never be able to see the outside world again."

"Oh? Well, that's a shame. I guess you're just giving up then. I was going to tell you about someone who could make your wildest dreams come true, but since you don't care about your injured dog-friend, I guess it doesn't matter."

She froze, knowing immediately that he was talking about the white haired demon she had been treating. "What do you mean?"

"Well, who know if he'll wake up, now that you're not there to feed him or care for him. Who's to say? After all, if another demon found him, he'd be lunch. And I have been seeing some wolf-demons sniffing around there lately."

Her gut clenched painfully. "But, but I can't! If I left now, I'd never be able to return, and I have nothing to protect myself with!"

"Well…what if you could turn into a demon yourself?"

Everything stopped for her. Was what he was saying even possible? If she could do that, then maybe she could actually meet the white haired demon she had undeniably fallen much too deeply for. She could talk to him, learn his name, live outside the walls, be freed from this prison, never have to take another boring lesson, never have to look her grandfather in the face again after he ordered her this punishment. At the moment, she was so hurt by his actions that she couldn't even stand the thought of being under the same roof as him. She could simply leave.

The only thing holding her back was Sota and her friends she had made in the staff back in the house. But after this, she wasn't even sure she'd be able to look them in the face. They probably all hated her anyways now that they knew what she had done.

But, supposing she took this demon-bird up on his offer, how was she even supposed to get there? She wouldn't be able to walk in her condition.

As if reading her mind, the crow sidled up to her. "Just give the word, I can carry you to this person no problem, you just have to open up a door in the wall."

"You just need a way out." Kagome surmised, figuring she was being used.

"No, poor thing, so suspicious. My lady has been concerned about you, you see. She helps people like you, and she saw that you needed her help, so she sent me here to find you. Why would I sneak in here with you otherwise? There are tons of monks and demon hunters that would kill me if they saw, there's no gain for me coming in here, except to take you with me and free you."

She had to admit, his logic was starting to sway her. She was still wary, but she was running out of options. It was either go now, or never leave again, be locked up forever, for the rest of her life. That was no way to live, and she felt a deep pang at the thought that she would never again see her beloved friend, the young man who's name she didn't even know. She didn't even know when she had started thinking of him as a friend, and scoffed mentally at her silliness. He wasn't a friend. He didn't know her. She didn't know him. She had simply tended to his wounds while he was unconscious. Was he worth risking everything for?

Despite everything, despite her brain telling her no, every instinct within her said yes. Her heart throbbed to the beat of it, and she knew that if she didn't go now, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

Making her decision, she nodded at the demonic crow.

He seemed to grin, and suddenly he began to grow, becoming large enough to truly frighten her. However, he didn't snap her up in his jaws, another sign that maybe he was trustworthy, and instead delicately picked the rope from her hands, tearing through it easily with his sharp beak. Then he ducked down and slid his head and then his neck under her, gently maneuvering her onto his back, where she clung with her arms around his neck. Then with a stomach jarring jolt, he flapped and was airborne, soaring up into the night sky.

"We'll be seen!" She gasped, clinging to him as hard as she could despite the pain in her back.

"Not if we're fast."

He rocketed towards the top of the barrier, and she gasped, seeing it coming up fast. She only had a split second to shout out the words, and a tear ripped open, her powers running wild since she hadn't done any of her exercises for today, even after expending some of them on that hunter earlier. The bird soared through the opening and she screamed, shouting the words once more to close the gap behind them. She was sure her grandfather had felt that disturbance, but hopefully he wouldn't follow. Maybe he would just think it was coincidence that the anomaly happened when she disappeared and he would just waste his time searching for her inside the walls. It was possible, after all they had popped out of the top, a spot that she would never have been able to reach by herself.

Now, they were soaring above the trees, and the bird carried her far into the forest, until the city, even the wall was nothing more than a speck in the distance. She glanced back, wondering if she had made a horrible mistake, but then flinched as the move made her back spasm in worse pain than before and turned her head forwards again. They flew for an alarmingly long amount of time, until finally the huge bird set them down gently in front of a hut. The hut wasn't anything special to look at, but Kagome suspected there was more hidden in the mountain right behind it.

As Kagome slipped haphazardly, and very painfully, off the bird's back, a buggy-eyed old woman came tottering out of the hut.

"Oh dear! Come inside, come inside, oh look at your back, poor dear." She tutted in a croaky voice, gathering Kagome up and whisking her inside the hut.

She proceeded to fuss over Kagome, wiping something on her torn up back that eased all her pain and then covered her in bandages.

After doing all this, Kagome was beginning to think that maybe she had made the right decision after all. They spoke, and soon Kagome had told the old, seemingly kind woman all her ills and wants and desires.

"You poor unfortunate soul. How glad I am that you came to me for help."

"So…you really can help?"

"My dear sweet child, that's what I do! It's what I live for. Helping poor, unfortunate souls, such as yourself."

"So, you can turn me into a demon? Without…changing me? I don't want to become evil or anything…" Kagome said hesitantly.

"Oh that's nothing but a myth. You might like your meat rarer though." The kindly woman, who had introduced herself earlier as Urasue said. "I fortunately know a little magic, it's a talent that I always have possessed."

"O-okay…."

"So, here's the deal. I can make you a potion that will turn you into a dog-demon, like your lover boy, for three weeks."

Kagome flushed at the reference of the dog-demon that she had rescued as her "lover boy." Urasue plowed right through her slight sputtering though and repeated, "Got that? Three weeks. Before the sun sets on the last day, you have to get your dog to claim you as his mate. If you do, then you can stay as a dog demon permanently. But if you don't, you return to being human and…you belong to me. Have we got a deal?"

Kagome hesitated. "If I become a demon, I'll never be able to return to the city. Ever. I'll never see my friends or my grandfather or Sota…"

It wasn't like she was jump starting to go back there any time soon, but the thought of never seeing them again did make her very sad. She did in fact love her grandfather very much, which was why his punishment had hurt her so deeply. Even so, she was sure he had done it to try and keep her from ever doing something so dangerous again, to his way of thinking. And of course the thought of never seeing Sota again broke her heart right down the middle.

"That's right!" The old woman said, almost empathetically, "But then, you'll have your man. Life's full of tough choices, isn't it?"

Kagome cringed, feeling terrible. But she was startled out of her temporary funk by Urasue exclaiming, "Oh! I almost forgot. We haven't discussed the subject of payment. You can't get something for nothing you know."

"But I don't have anyth-"

Kagome's protest was cut off by the other woman interrupting her. "I'm not asking much! Just a token really! You'll never even miss it. What I want from you is…you're voice."

"My voice?"

"That's right. No more talking or singing."

"But, without my voice, how can I…?" She started, wondering how the heck she was going to get her demon to like her enough to make her is "mate," which she assumed was demon for girlfriend, if she couldn't even say anything.

"You'll have you're looks, your pretty face, and don't underestimate the importance of body language." At her still tremulous look, she continued cajolingly. "The demon men out here don't like a lot of blabber. What is idle prattle for anyways? After all, men generally aren't impressed with conversation. But they'll dote and swoon and fawn over a lady who's withdrawn, trust me dear."

She began to gather ingredients as she spoke, apparently already convinced that Kagome would decide to pay the price. She began tossing ingredients into a cauldron that she set over her fire, bringing it to a boil. It began to let off a great deal of smoke.

"Does this help?" The woman asked, and waved her hand, the smoke cleared and amazingly she could see the dog-demon in question, still lying unconscious in her cave, and looking very miserable indeed. He was tossing back and forth, and she could see his face twisted as if in pain. It seemed he had somehow succumbed to an infection she had somehow missed and maybe even had a high fever or something.

Her gut jerked and then nausea settled in as worry crept up on her.

Was he okay? Were his wounds infected? Was he dying of thirst? Was he in pain? Was he making so much noise he would attract another demon? There were so many ways he could die while unconscious and defenseless as he was, even without the injuries she knew he had sustained. Maybe that bit of intestine had in fact been punctured and was causing an internal bleed.

The vision dissipated, and then the smoke returned. After a little silence the other woman prompted, "Come on dear. If you want to pass a bridge then you have to pay a toll. It's not unfair. Now, make your choice, I do have other things to tend to."

She reached out and handed a glowing scroll to her. It was obviously seeping with demonic energy, even she, in her untrained state could feel that, and it made her skin crawl.

But, with the vision of her demon perhaps dying still fresh in her mind, she gritted her teeth and grabbed the quill that Urasue handed her. The quill was sharp, and as soon as she grabbed it barbs pierced her skin. She yelped, nearly dropping it, but then realized that her blood was to be the ink, which wasn't comforting in the least, but even so she hastened to sign before her blood could dry, postponing all questions and misgivings to the back of her mind.

As soon as she signed, the contract was whisked out of her hands and Urasue was completing the potion, muttering words over it until the whole hut was filled with creepy smoke. This was starting to feel like a really, incredibly, terribly bad idea.

The other woman came out of the smoke, approaching Kagome, and then said, "Now, sing."

Beginning to shake, Kagome took a deep breath and the first thing that popped out of her mouth was the lullaby that she had sung for her injured demon. She couldn't believe the irony.

She kept singing, wondering what was about to happen, and then nearly screamed, when Urasue suddenly shoved her hand inside her mouth without warning, only shrieking, "KEEP SINGING."

She kept singing through sheer force of will, though oddly it felt like she couldn't stop. The hand in her mouth almost seemed to turn to smoke somehow, although it was still very much solid, and Kagome had no idea what the heck was going on, how something could feel not there, and there at the same time. That creepy, evil hand shoved right down her throat, successfully choking her. She would have cried if the demonic spell that had her in its grasp would let her, but all she could do was keep singing as she squeezed her eyes closed, tears streaming from them as pain shot through her.

It wasn't comfortable having someone shove their hand down your throat, in fact it hurt like a bitch, and Kagome would normally have been screaming for her to stop. The sound coming from her throat did change, becoming weird and not hers somehow, and she knew why. At that exact moment the hand had grabbed onto her and then ripped something. It was a horrifying sensation, a piece of her flesh being ripped away, and then somehow healed.

The agony shocked her system and she collapsed to her knees as the hand withdrew, taking with it the still singing piece of her. It was a glowing disembodied voice box, all the bloody pulsating muscles and tissues and tendons and whatever else that made a voice happen now held in her hand, glowing weirdly and still singing.

And then Kagome threw up.

Her now very sore throat protested the upheaval.

She blearily looked up to see Urasue close the flesh into a box, which then disappeared, along with her voice.

And then all she saw was a mass of smoke converging on her. She couldn't breathe, couldn't see, and bright flashing lights cracked and popped all around, almost like blasts of lightning and she was consumed by what felt like a storm cloud. It was just as terrifying as the previous situation, and she scrambled back, screaming, or trying to scream, but only air escaped her now different throat. She nearly was incapacitated by the purely wrong feel of that one exhale, and she was limp with shock as she was picked up into the air.

She thrashed and then her entire body bowed back, taught as a bow string as a flash of that lightning hit her directly. As it turned out, it wasn't lightning. It was pure demonic energy, but it might as well have been electricity because it felt like she had been hit with a bolt of lightning, her flesh almost feeling like it was melting. Every part of her hurt and she convulsed as another blast sent darkness flooding her veins, burning her from the inside out.

And then changes began to happen.

It felt like her ears got pulled off, torn just as terrifyingly from her body, but then she realized that they were moving, not coming off. They were, however tearing, and her skull cracked with a resounding crunch that had her dry heaving and a splitting headache bloomed through her whole cranium. It felt like her brain was melting out of the gaping hole that were now her ears, and as they crept upwards to the top of her head, accompanied by the grinding of bones, she nearly had a seizure at the rearrangement of the inside of her skull. Alongside that unpleasantness, was her fingernails feeling like they had splinters or shards of glass being shoved up under them, peeling them off her fingers entirely, and her canine teeth likewise grew unbearable painful, before being wrenched out, root and all, filling her mouth with her own blood. She choked, spitting out a mouthful and feeling like she was drowning. New teeth shoved out of the bloody sores where her previous teeth sat, which was nearly as painful, and the similar procedure happened on her fingers.

Then, all hell broke loose, as new demon blood began to fill her veins. Her entire body went up in revolt and everything inside her began to twist unnaturally. In her distress and shock and agony and hysteria, her brand new body transformed, sending her through a whole new level of horror as every bone broke all at once. That was the last thing she knew as her mind simply gave up the fight and blacked out.

 _A few hours later~_

She came to slowly, feeling woozy, drugged, and weird. It took a long time for her to wake up, and the more awake she did get, the less things made since. Her body felt wrong, entirely wrong, utterly and completely wrong in ways she couldn't even assimilate. She was even afraid to move, worried that something would pop off.

Everything hurt, that was one part of the problem. She wasn't even sure she _could_ move, even if she got up the courage to try. After lying on the cold ground, feeling wet and cold in a weird, unnatural way, she began to shiver. She stayed put for a good long while before she even had the nerve to open her eyes and when she did she wished she hadn't. Everything looked a little off, her vision slightly different than before. Once she got over that, she blinked and got up the courage to look down. What she saw made sense of what she was feeling, but it still didn't really compute.

She was furry.

And she had paws.

And a big nose that she could see in front of her face.

…

She was a dog.

 _Okay…okay calm down. I'm a dog. A dog. With paws. And ears. Tail? Yep. Oh, that's weird. Uh…uh….uhhhhhhhh…Shit. Now what?_

Kagome was at a loss. She honestly didn't know what to do with herself at this point. She was unused to this body; she didn't even know how to go about sitting up. So, without any better ideas, she decided to take inventory, starting at the top and going down.

Taking a few deep breaths to try and calm her heart she wiggled her nose. Then she wiggled it again. It felt very strange. In fact, her long muzzle was probably the weirdest feeling bit of her. Everything felt wrong, but that just felt…double wrong. Trying to not think about it too hard she wiggled her ears, which was made difficult since one was pressed to the ground. She was lying on her side, sort of splayed out awkwardly and her head rested against the cold damp leaves of the forest floor, causing one ear to be uncomfortably crunched up and one eye to not be able to open for fear of getting poked by a stray leaf.

So, she attempted to lift her head. It was an awkward position and strained very, very sore muscles. She groaned silently, cringing when only air escaped her and her head plopped back to the soil. She wondered if this body would let her cry, but figured if it could she would already be doing it.

After a few minutes of feeling sorry for herself, she decided to really try and sit up this time. First she stretched out her front legs, testing them to see how she was going to do this.

It was going to be awkward and ungraceful, but she did it anyways, trying to heave her head and shoulders up far enough to get her legs under her. She failed once or twice before she finally managed to clumsily roll onto her belly, her paws and legs folding up under her. She lay there for a moment, breathing heavily. Her mouth opened and she began to pant.

As a brisk wind blew by she clapped her jaw shut again, disturbed by how the air rushed through the sides of her mouth. As a human, her mouth was flat against the front of her face, but in this weird form the air just blew right into her gaping jaw. It felt so uncomfortable, so wrong, like her cheeks had been split open or cut, because that was the only way her mouth would be this open and exposed so that her teeth and tongue in the very back could feel wind blowing across them.

After gathering her wits about her, what was left of them anyway, she worked on getting her front paws under her and pushing herself up into a sitting position. It felt weird. Her elbows were way up next to her chest and her forearms were super long, or that was what it felt like.

Her paws were also very, very odd. It felt like her fingers had been chopped off basically, given how stumpy her once-hands-now-paws felt. She could spread her fingers, or rather her toes and dig her nails into the dirt to help her heave herself up, but she knew she wouldn't be able to hold anything with these. As she looked down at them, she noticed they did seem a little different than a normal dog's, the ones she had seen illustrations of in her books back home, the toes were a bit longer and had more mobility and the claws at the tips were longer and sharper. She supposed that was the difference between a dog and a demon dog.

She also noticed that she had bright red marks, like thick, slightly diagonal tiger stripes, on what would have been her wrists and a little ways up her forearms. When she glanced back she saw that they were also on her back legs.

She finally levered herself to sit on her butt, which brought up a whole new host of discomforts. She was naked. Obviously. But the rest of her was covered with fur, so it wasn't too bad. However, certain parts of her that were normally covered by underwear and skirts were now bare and no longer protected by butt cheeks. She winced, realizing that dogs did not really have anything to protect them back there, aside from a tail, as her anus was abruptly accosted by wet cold leaves. She flinched, and lunged forwards, getting to all four paws simply out of shock and perturbation, to get her poor behind away from the cold ground.

That didn't work out too well as her front legs gave out, sending her front half crashing to the ground, her long nose doing a core sample in the soil as she face-planted into the ground. Her butt was left up in the air while her front ended up on the ground. She scrambled to get her front paws back under her and managed to get back to her feet, wobbling in place. Then she sneezed the dirt out of her nose and the force sent her back to her belly.

Her new muscles were hard to work, and she was still in a lot of pain. Whatever medicine the old crone had put on her back hadn't done jack except for numbing her to the pain.

After lying still for a while, she tried again, managing to stand up on all four legs. She tilted a little and staggered to the side, only just managing to get her legs back under her in time to keep her from keeling over again. Her tail was tucked firmly between her legs, keeping the cold wind off her butt and simply staying there out of sheer nerves. She was looking down at her paws, keeping herself firmly rooted by digging her claws into the ground. And so, when she raised her head, she blinked, a bit shocked to find that she was looking at everything at about the same height as before. She didn't think dogs were normally this big, but at least it wasn't too disorienting, so she didn't spend too much time thinking about it.

After stabilizing herself and getting some sort of balance underway, she began to weeble and wobble her way forwards, staggering and stumbling as she did, but staying afoot. It was at this point that she realized that she didn't know what to do or where to go from here. She raised her head, looking around and realizing with a good deal of horror that she was in the woods, somewhere random, and she couldn't see or smell or hear any sign of the old woman or the crow demon. All she could see were trees in every direction.

She didn't even know what direction the wall was. She didn't want to go back there, but she needed to get back to her cave to find her demon friend. That was the whole point of this.

She was pretty sure now that she had been had, that old woman had been screwing her over from the very start. She had messed up big time, ever trusting that old witch for a second. This was not good, happy magic; this was black magic of the worst kind. She even suspected that the vision she had been shown was fake, probably the demon dog was up and about and nowhere near the cave by now.

Which pretty much meant she was up a creek. She had three weeks to find him, get him to want to be her boyfriend, and all while she was a dog? No. There was no way. She was going to fail and that woman would find her and do whatever it was that she wanted to do with her.

Why had she gone to such lengths to mess with her anyways? Couldn't she have just shoved her in the cauldron and eaten her when she showed up weak and helpless at her door step like some sort of sacrificial lamb? Or did this whole contract thing give her more power somehow?

Undoubtedly that was the case.

Depressed, Kagome drooped, nearly collapsing back to the ground in shock and horror at what she had done. She didn't even have a voice anymore. And she doubted she would be getting that back, even if by some miracle she managed to actually get this dog demon to take her as his girlfriend.

She had messed up big time.

And now, she was stuck in the woods, lost, alone, cold, hungry, and totally helpless.

She was worse off than when she was human, because now she could barely even walk. Before, at least she could have run or climbed a tree to try and get away from a demon, now she just had to hope she could hide under a bush or something.

Her only advantage was that she might be able to hear or smell them coming, because her ears and nose were super sharp now. Of course she had no idea how a demon smelled or sounded, so that didn't help too much. And every little sound made her jump, until she realized it was just the leaves blowing in the trees, or a twig snapping under her paw, or a bug humming around her head. When an owl hooted she nearly jumped out of her own skin, not that it really felt like her skin anymore to begin with.

It was night, she was frightened and tired, and so she found herself a very sturdy bush to crawl under and curled up tightly, shoving her frozen nose under her tail and tucking her paws up under her. At least this new body let her curl up and conserve body heat better.

She lay they shivering for the entire night, unable to sleep despite her exhaustion. The pain of her wounds and the transformation prevented her from being comfortable enough to actually sleep. And even if she hadn't been in pain her mind would have kept her awake with the worries swirling through it.

Would she ever see her demon again? Was there a chance in hell she could find him in this enormous forest all by herself, barely able to walk, and lost? If she found him would he even accept her, or would he simply see her as an enemy and attack?

Would she be able to survive by herself for however long it took her to find him, if she ever did? Would she have to hunt and eat raw meat off a dead animal? Was she even physically or emotionally capable of killing an animal? If starvation kicked in, she suspected she might be. But at what cost? The idea of feeling a bunny's dying throes in her jaws nearly made her heave.

Would she ever even be able to move? Or should she be stuck here, to wither and die?

That was the big question. Would she survive this experience? Or would she die? They were equal possibilities at this point, though she suspected, with a sinking stomach, that the second was probably more likely.

Thoughts of her death were certainly not conducive to sleep, and so she spent a very miserable night on the ground, cold, wet, in pain, tortured by her thoughts, and without any sleep to ease the burdens.

* * *

Author's Note:

Yep. So I'm sure by now you all know that this is based off of the Little Mermaid plot.

Again sorry for being a bit late on my updates, but I hope everyone enjoyed the new chapter just the same. :D


	4. Chapter 4

_A day or so ago…_

Inuyasha groaned, finally managing to peel his eyes open and peer around in confusion. It took him a moment to remember what had happened, and he jumped to his feet, whirling around, snarling just in case. When nothing threatening happened he settled down.

He was utterly discombobulated. After being jumped by the entire enemy wolf pack, Inuyasha had basically blacked out. All he had known was pain and darkness for a good long while. He only barely became aware that he was being moved at some point, and then had felt stinging and worse pain off and on. None of it made sense.

He looked around, noting that he was in some sort of cave, although how he had gotten here he wasn't really sure. There were oddities all throughout the small shelter, and he quickly began to feel like it was the den of someone, based on the small knickknacks placed on outcroppings of rock in the walls. Feathers, knotted roots, stones, even leaves were carefully placed like decoration or something and when he turned around he noticed that he had been laying on a pallet made of some sort of straw. It was definitely a dwelling.

As he moved he became aware of something pulling at his skin in an odd way, and he looked down, blinking to find bandages wrapping him. These weren't the bandages that he would use though. The few times he had had to use a bandage, he had used plain cloth-scrap bandages, but these were finer and pure white. White cloth was rare, and he had only seen it coming from behind the wall, or from the few towns and cities within the forest. Most humans stuck to the outside of the forest, but some had made settlements in clearings inside the forest, and that was where he had found cloth this fine.

Not that demons couldn't make fine cloth, in fact many made much finer cloth than humans ever could, but the pure white color seemed to be a human thing. Most demons preferred bright colors to white, if they were getting fine fabric. Of course, many just wore browns and greens to blend into the forest, but for rituals and ceremonies, bright colors were what were worn.

So, since these bandages were white, it suggested that they belonged to a human, which was puzzling. Also, as he looked around he found that the medicine that had apparently been used on him was in premade little bottles, instead of from herbs found in the forest. That was another dead giveaway. Humans seemed to like to mass-produce things, instead of making them for the purpose right then and there. And they ended up in small bottles that were much less potent than poultices and such.

If he was in any doubt after all this evidence, the scent all over the cave and on him was human. It was that same sweet scent that he had been smelling lately off and on. He had been sure that someone was following him sometimes lately, but the scent had been partially masked by strong plant smells. It undoubtedly belonged to the individual who lived here. But why would there be a human living in the woods all by themselves? Especially this close to the wall.

The few cities and villages within the woods were on the other side, miles and miles from here and closer to the outskirts of the "demon forest," as this forest was affectionately nicknamed. There were plenty of forests, but this one was by far the thickest, and largest of them all, spanning hundreds of miles, and it was thickly inhabited by demons, to the point that humans had pretty much given up on settling it, except of course for the humans who lived behind that blasted wall. They had come a few hundred years ago and had taken over a large swath of land, walling themselves in and only coming out to hunt.

So it made no sense for there to be a human living here. As he poked around, it became clear that maybe she wasn't living here, but simply visited here, since there was a distinct lack in essentials. It was most definitely female, by the scent, which was also puzzling, since he had only ever seen males in the forest around here. He also vaguely remembered the sound of a female voice. He had been out of it, but the sound of her talking to him had filtered through his consciousness. And…she had also sung to him, if he was remembering correctly.

He pondered what this all meant. This human girl, whoever she was, had been following him, for some unknown reason for a while now. She had never attempted to attack, so he doubted she meant any harm. And then, apparently she had found him after he had been injured, had dragged him back to her little cave, and had nursed him back to health. Normally he wouldn't have needed so much care, since he healed incredibly fast, but given the sheer damage that had been inflicted by the enemy pack he didn't doubt that he could have died, especially since he had been helpless. Another demon could have easily found him and killed him while he was weak and unconscious.

He was actually very grateful to this strange young woman, and grew more and more curious about her as he poked around through her possessions. She was apparently a very curious person, since she had collected all kinds of things, organizing them very carefully. There was still a bag there and he nosed through the contents, finding some odd little squares that smelled pretty tasty, a medical kit, some clothes, a water bag, and shockingly a bow string and some arrow heads. Most human women didn't wield weapons of any kind, and he found himself wondering if she was any good. In fact he found himself wondering all kinds of things, like where she was from, why she was here, what she was doing, why she had followed him, why she had taken care of him, and everything else about her.

Being very impulsive and driven by instinct, he determined that he wanted to meet her. Figuring that she would probably be coming back, he decided to wait. He knew that his pack was probably quite concerned about him, but honestly didn't really care. He was the scout after all, and they were used to him disappearing for long periods of time. Of course Kaede would probably smack him around a bit if he didn't show up soon. Not that she would necessarily actually smack him, but her tongue lashings were almost worse than a beating.

He heaved a sigh, grumbling under his breath about his alpha as he waited, picking his teeth with a claw absentmindedly.

He didn't have to wait too long, soon he began to pick up the sounds of a disturbance. Normally he wouldn't necessarily care, but when he caught scent of the sweet smell of this girl, and not just her scent, but the scent of her blood, he was standing at high attention. He was out of the cave before he knew what had happened, and was heading towards where he could smell blood. He found the place, finding a few spatters of red on the ground and a bloody, discarded arrow, and he felt a surge of red hot rage, shocking in its intensity as he realized that the young women who had been caring for him had been injured.

He was amazed by how protective he felt about her, since that wasn't really in his nature. Sure, he was protective of his pack, particular his friend Kikyo, but he had never really cared about anyone he had just met before. And he hadn't even met this girl technically.

With a growl he set off, following her scent.

He grew closer and closer, but he reached the edge of the woods before he got to her, and he came to a skidding halt, peering out from the leaves as he looked for her. He caught sight of a man hauling a woman through the front gates, and he was sure that it must be her. He almost ran out of the protective covering of trees to try and grab her, but as he emerged, a shout went up on the watch towers on either side of the gate, and a volley of arrows rained down, nearly turning him into an impromptu pincushion. He skidded back into the trees, snarling and spitting with impotent fury.

He knew he had to get out of here, they would send hunters out to try and find him since he had gotten so close to the gate. So with a last growl he set off. He easily avoided the hunters they sent, and after a few hours he returned, pacing the tree line all along the wall. At this point he was convinced that she had been sneaking out, and he had no idea what that would mean for her. Would they kill her? Undoubtedly she would be locked up or something.

Despite the unlikelihood of ever seeing her again, he optimistically kept up pacing, hoping against hope that she would be able to escape.

His optimism paid off, because no sooner had he begun to lose hope than he sensed a demon coming from beyond the wall, an unheard of thing. Deciding to investigate, he hustled in that direction and saw a crow demon flying over the barrier, and at second glance he realized that the flying demon was carrying something on its back. Inuyasha felt his chest tightening, hoping that maybe it was the girl he was looking for, and he leapt up into the nearest tree to get a better look. Sure enough, as he looked closer, he saw black hair, just like the girl's and the faint wisp of her scent wafted down from the bird.

The damn thing was fast though, and Inuyasha found himself hard-pressed to keep up. He managed to keep it in his sight for a good while, and he watched it like a hawk, noting the direction it was going as it began to get further and further away. It seemed to be flying in a straight line, and so he kept going that way, leaping through the trees as he watched it. Even after he lost sight of it he kept running, always going in the same direction as the bird, even using the stars to align himself, even though he normally didn't bother with that sort of thing. After a while he shifted to his dog form, able to run faster and longer that way, though he had to drop down to the ground. He used the scent of the wind to keep himself going in the right direction and kept glancing up at the brief patches of sky to make sure.

He was determined to find her now, almost obsessed.

KAGOME POV

Kagome did not sleep well.

In fact, she didn't really sleep at all, so much as she shivered and hid her eyes under her tail. She could hear the morning birds begin to sing, and felt warmth as the sun rose, but she still stayed hidden. She had nowhere to go, nothing to do, and basically would rather just die here than become the possession of that woman after the horrible night she had just had. She had almost given up entirely.

It took her a long time, and a great deal of pep-talking herself, to finally drag herself out from under the bush. She was surprisingly less sore than before, but she was still aching, and she could feel the crunchy feeling of scabs crackling along her back, under her fur now. She stretched gingerly, then looked around, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the daylight.

Her stomach growled loudly and she winced, wondering not for the first time what the heck she was supposed to eat. She set off, not having anything better to do, and tried to use her nose to find something edible. After much hunting, she finally found a berry bush that she recognized and set about nipping the berries off the branches, getting leaves and twigs in her mouth along with the berries. It was awkward, messy, and not overly productive, but at least it settled her stomach down a little, and she was relieved that at least she could still eat these in her current form, otherwise she would have been truly screwed.

She did her best to clean her muzzle, using her disturbingly long tongue to lick her lips and nose, which felt incredibly strange.

She was busy doing that when she heard a thundering sound of something coming close fast. Really, it wasn't super loud, but with her new set of ears she could hear the footsteps loud and clear as a bell, and it sounded big. With a silent air-yelp she scrambled to her feet and set off, running like a baby who hadn't gotten its feet figured out yet. She was all over the place, legs and paws flying in every direction as she hauled ass, her tail and butt tucked up under her as she scrambled for safety.

She kept her ears trained back at the sound, quickly figuring out that she could actually swivel them to point at the sound, and she was horrified to hear the steps pause and then change direction, coming after her instead. With a squeal that would have woken the dead if it had made any noise, she picked up the pace, barreling forwards with no thought of grace or any kind of coordination: speed was key.

It was a miracle that she stayed on all four paws, though she nearly fell what felt like a hundred times in the course of a minute as she ran for her life.

INUYASHA POV

He was running along, trying to find the girl, when suddenly he skidded to a halt, running into a shocking scent. It smelled like her, so much so, that he was almost convinced that it was, even though it didn't smell quite…right. There was something new in it, something that piqued his interest in a way it hadn't been before, and he set off after it.

He soon came upon the scene of what looked like a murder, and he almost stopped in shock, blinking at the poor, poor bush that had been mauled in an unholy manner. Berries and juice splattered the ground like blood, and the bush itself had been almost entirely stripped of fruit, along with leaves and branches. It looked like it had been chewed up and then spit out again.

Utterly confused now, he continued following the scent, wondering if she was somehow responsible for that, and if so…how? And why?

He could hear her, or he at least assumed it was her, and it seemed she was running away from him, based on the sound of scampering feet. Her scent was also spiked with fear, but he kept in hot pursuit, not too concerned about scaring her since he was sure he could calm her down once he caught her and convinced her he wasn't going to hurt her, but to do that he had to catch her first.

Her scent was all over the place, this way, that way, definitely not running in a straight line, and he was a bit concerned that maybe she was hurt, it almost seemed like she was staggering side to side. He picked up the pace, barreling through the shrubbery and leaping over some of it as he became concerned.

When he finally caught sight of her, he nearly fell flat on his face. She was not a woman, she was a dog, like him. Her black coat was glossy and a little fluffy in a cute way. Her pointed ears were pointed back at him and her fluffy tail was tucked firmly between her legs as she threw herself forwards with as little coordination as he had ever seen. Yet there was something graceful and also highly humorous in the fawnlike staggering, her long legs flailing around in an amusing display.

He slowed down, watching with disbelief as she ran from him, scrambling with all four paws on the ground like she didn't know how to use them. That was when they weren't in the air, which also seemed to happen as she tilted this way and that, her paws flying through the air and almost seeming to pinwheel as she desperately searched for some kind of balance, and failed spectacularly.

He was shocked she was even able to stay upright with the way she was thrashing around, and then winced as she did a faceplant, her front paws folding and then sending her tail over ears as she tumbled across the ground at high speed. He was impressed when she managed to get herself back on her feet again, her paws flashing and waving in the air for a second as she flipped herself over. She was off again, disappearing behind a bush and taking off in a different direction to try and shake him.

KAGOME POV

She risked a look back and wished she hadn't as a huge white creature launched itself over a bush, running right at her. From the brief glance she had caught, it looked like a dog, or a wolf, some sort of canine for sure. Or maybe it was a bear. It was big enough.

She honestly didn't care though, she was too busy making forward momentum happen.

It wasn't long before that forward momentum worked against her though as one paw landed way too awkwardly and gave out, sending her face forwards into the ground. She fell, rolling across the ground like she was doing cartwheels, and then landed, her back and every muscle in her body protesting very, very loudly.

Everything that had been feeling better was feeling much worse now, but she ignored the pain to toss herself back to her feet as fast as possible, and threw herself forwards again. Speed wasn't going to do it here, he was much faster than her and she couldn't really get any speed up with the way she was flailing around, so she wildly tried to shake him by running behind a bush, then doubling back and going another way. She did that several times, not having much luck with shaking him off her trail, and she realized he could smell her. She could sure as heck smell him, so it only made sense.

Thinking wildly, she took a deeper breath through her nose, trying to spare breath that she frankly didn't have to catch a whiff of something she could use to mask her scent. The sharp pungency of the same herb she had used as a human to mask her scent when following her demon friend smacked her in the face and she nearly sneezed. She made a beeline for it, finding the herb patch quickly. Knowing he was right on her tail, she didn't bother with normal movement and simple went from running to laying down, throwing herself to the ground nose first and diving into the herbs. She thrashed with everything she had, rolling back and forth with every muscle she had and then scrambled back to her feet and took off again, catching a glimpse of white right behind her.

She could barely breathe with the strong scent covering her, and she almost gagged, her eyes watering as she sneezed. The sneeze nearly made her fall over again, but she managed to bounce off a tree and keep going. She had to hide, she needed to find some way of shaking him and then hiding where he couldn't find her. She did a few switchbacks, barreled through the herbs again, and then found the thickest bush she could and dove under it, curling into the tiniest ball she could and froze. She heard his pounding footsteps approaching and she trembled, holding her breath. The footsteps pounded towards her and then there was a pause and the bush shook as he jumped over it, landing on the other side and kept going.

For a second she thought she had escaped, but then the footsteps stopped, the sound of leaves being tossed up as he skidded. He doubled back, and she heard him sniffing loudly as he tried to hunt her down.

He was going to find her, he was too close not to.

When all noises stopped, alarmingly close to her bush she froze, stopped breathing, and squeezed her eyes closed. When nothing happened, she squinted her eyes open, looking at the white patches of fur right next to her bush through the leaves. Then she jumped, howling silently as a white nose thrust its way through the branches. Her paws churned the loose soil beneath her and she made headway for the other side of the bush, almost making it. Except then the creature simply came into the bush with her, and judging by the falling branches he had somehow cut his way through it, removing the protective top entirely.

She still jerked forwards, trying to run again, and managed to get out of the bush before he pounced, landing on top of her. She went to the ground, her paws folding under her as she lay flat, her belly slapping the ground with the force of how fast she was forced down. She made herself as small as possible, eyeballing the massive paws on the ground either side of her head.

He was standing over her, his legs spread to either side, and she winced as she felt hot breath on the top of her head.

"Geez, you're a pain in the ass to catch." An exasperated complaint sounded, and her eyes popped wide open in shock. It could speak?!

She jerked, her head turned as much as possible to look at it with shock.

"So, are ya going to be reasonable and stay fucking put? I just wanna talk for crying out loud." He said again, his voice definitely male. She had been thinking 'him' this whole time, but it was still a bit of a shock.

She gulped and nodded and then breathed out a sigh of relief as he stepped off of her. Once she was free to do so, she sat up and turned around, parking her butt on her tail. She blinked at him, taking in his golden eyes and the white fur. He had an interesting red streak under his eyes on each cheek, the same shade of red as those marks on her legs. He was a very handsome dog or wolf, but she couldn't tell which one he was. He was bigger than her though and had a bigger ruff of fur around his neck.

He cocked his head. "I totally thought you were human."

She just blinked back, not sure what he was talking about.

He continued when all he got was a blank stare. "Are you even the girl I'm looking for?"

She shrugged, not sure.

He growled. "Well, say something!"

She winced. She could feel her ears drooping, and automatically tried to say, "I can't," but naturally nothing but air escaped her muzzle.

He scowled in a dog way. "What? Can't you talk?"

She just shook her head sadly and his ears drooped some as a heavy disappointed sigh escaped his chest. "Well shit. I know she could speak because she talked to me while I was passed out…" He muttered, almost to himself. Then he glanced off to the side. "And I have no idea which way I was going anymore…"

She cocked her head questioningly.

He glanced at her. "I was following a crow carrying a girl. Have you seen it?"

She nodded, her ears pricked all the way forwards. Could he possibly mean her?

"Really? Great! Where did they go?"

She honestly didn't know where the crow or the woman were so she just drooped and shook her head.

"Shit." He sighed. "Well, I guess there's no reason for this form anymore then."

To Kagome's shock his body buckled and then shifted, everything moving around and shrinking until he stood on two feet, his long white hair dropping down to flow behind him. Her jaw dropped and her eyes bugged out as she took in the sight of the demon who had started this whole thing. It was the dog demon! Her dog demon! She leapt to her feet and then lost her balance a little. What she ended up doing, which she hadn't really planned out too well, ended up being her knocking him over. He yelled incomprehensibly, sounding surprised, and then froze, looking up at her in shock and confusion. She didn't really care, she simply poked her nose into his face and got a good up-close look at him, verifying that it was in fact him.

"What the?!" He sputtered and then his eyes squinted. "You…you're acting like you know me…"

She nodded vigorously, smiling. Which meant her tongue lolled out. Which felt weird. So she stopped.

INUYASHA POV

He wasn't sure, but something told him, that somehow, this girl was the same human girl from before. There was no way to know, and since he wasn't sure he could trust her to tell him the truth if he asked he kept his trap shut.

It made no sense.

She couldn't talk, and she was a dog demon, so she couldn't be the girl from before…but she acted like she knew him. And even more telling, she only acted like she knew him when he took human form, which was the only way that human girl had ever seen him. And she didn't act like she really knew how to be a dog demon…the way she had been running before was like she didn't know how to use her legs. And she smelled like her.

Not sure what to do about it, he decided to suspend judgment for the time being, and all thoughts of hunting down that crow slipped from his mind as he focused all his attention on this new, interesting conundrum.

He let his eyes slide over her dog form, wondering why she was still in it…almost as if she didn't know how to transform back.

She really did make a pretty dog though, a thought that hit him now that he was able to really look at her. He had already been struck by the notion earlier at the glimpses he had seen, but now he could see her pretty face and those lovely bright red streaks that looked like eyeliner right up under her eyes and streaking all the way out to the sides of her face. He also noted the markings on her legs, and he had to admit that she had some of the prettiest markings he had ever seen.

KAGOME POV

He was looking at her weird, and she realized she was still standing over him so she quickly scooted off. If she had been human she would have been blushing madly for getting so overexcited. She sat awkwardly in front of him, wishing she had thumbs to twiddle or something to take her mind off her embarrassment.

After a highly awkward silence, for her at least, he said, "So…are ya gonna take human form or what?"

Her eyes darted back to his face and she blinked, shocked. Was that possible? Her confusion must have shown on her face because he snorted.

"You don't know how to do you?"

She shook her head no.

"Is this your first time?"

She nodded.

He heaved a sigh. "I'm not a great teacher, it would probably be better to get Kaede to show you…"

At her droopy ears he groaned. "Okay, okay…don't look so sad, geez." He looked genuinely freaked out about her looking so perturbed and he waved his hands around a little in desperation. Then he grimaced. "Okay…so, just...try and imagine being a human."

At her skeptical expression he scowled. "Look it's not that fucking complicated! Just picture yourself as human!"

Kagome blinked. So, this guy obviously had a really short fuse. Good to know. Still, she tried to do what he was telling her and closed her eyes, thinking really hard about being human.

After a few minutes of her trying really hard and not a lot coming from it, the guy groaned, sounding quite frustrated with her. She opened her eyes and bared her teeth at him, she would be growling if she could. It was all she could think of to do to express what she wanted to say. _"I'm trying dammit!"_

His cranky expression lightened, looking somewhat amused and then he heaved a sigh and scooted closer. "Here, this is what Kaede did when I first shifted."

He grabbed her paw and then held up his hand, placing her paw flat against his palm. She felt her heartbeat increase, shocked by the sudden contact, and she was glad for the fur on her face that hid the flush she knew was there.

She was so flustered she nearly missed his instructions.

"Picture your hand, think really hard about having fingers and stuff like that. Use my hand as reference."

She blinked, her eyes flicking between his hand and her paw, and then gulped, forcing herself to do as he said and focused on her paw, picturing fingers, trying to really remember what having fingers felt like. To do that she remembered writing, she remembered using chopsticks, she remembered drawing her bow, she remembered flipping the pages of a book.

As she remembered things she started to feel something shifting, and suddenly she was hit by a tidal wave, pain wracking her frame as she felt bones popping, skin tearing, things moving around and shifting in ways they weren't supposed to. Her eyes squeezed shut and she keeled over, laying twitching and writhing on the ground as she shifted back into the form that she was used to. It wasn't a smooth transition, things seemed to get stuck and pop into place after only a great deal of struggle, and it lasted for a full minute or two.

She didn't hear the young man yelp or cuss, her mind was totally focused on getting through the pain. With a final grinding snap, crackle, and pop everything seemed to settle into place and she lay on her side, panting and wheezing, sweating all over. It had been better than the spell, but it had still been far from fun. After a moment she sat up, putting her hand to her head and wincing.

She realized she was naked, seemingly right about the same time the other teen did. She reacted by gasping and covering her chest with her arms, her eyes flying down to verify that she was in fact naked, and her legs snapped together, squeezing as tight as possible. Her eyes flashed over to the other teen, whose face was bright red. His eyes were saucer sized and he seemed to be in shock, just gaping at her. But then he seemed to shake himself out of it and his eyes snapped closed … probably because she had swiftly grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it into his face.

"Sorry! Why are you naked?!" He sputtered.

Obviously she couldn't respond.

He apparently figured that out.

"Still can't talk? Shit…Okay, here, put this on." She blinked as he yanked his robe off, handing it over to her.

She gratefully shoved her arms into it and pulled it closed around her, detaching the sleeves and using them as an obi to tie it shut. Thankfully it came to her mid-thigh, so it was short but covered all the basics. Once she was done she lightly tapped his knee, noting that his eyes were still shut.

He cracked an eye open and then opened both once he was sure she was dressed.

"Seriously? Why were you naked? Usually you're supposed to master simple demon magic before even trying to transform."

She grimaced, just making an, _"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm totally lost, please help me,"_ sort of expression.

His eyes squinted a little, looking like he was considering her and thinking hard about something. After a little shrug to himself he said, "Well, you're gonna have to learn, because losing your clothes every time you transform is gonna be a pain in the ass."

She grimaced again.

"Okay, well how about you come back to my pack with me? Do you have a pack? A home?"

She shook her head.

"Then come with me."

He stood and brushed himself off, then helped her to her feet with a slightly impatient grip on the back of his shirt that she was now wearing. She stood and then winced, stumbling as her muscles cramped and as she became aware of the arrow wound in her thigh. It was much better, shockingly, but it still twinged. Her back too, it seemed to have healed even more than she had thought, but it was still tender and sore.

"Woah, you okay?"

She winced and nodded, lifting the edge of the shirt to check on her thigh. It was closed amazingly, and there was just a nasty bruise and a round scab.

"Hey, is that an arrow wound?"

She jumped, looking up to see the guy leaning around to look too. She scowled and swatted at him. He leaned back, an eyebrow rising.

"Well, you're feisty." He snorted. "But seriously is that an arrow wound?"

She huffed and nodded. His eyes narrowed again and he got that contemplative look on his face again. She mouthed _"what?!"_ and gave him a look.

"Nothing." He shrugged. "So, what's your name?"

She bit her lip and then slowly mouthed it.

He looked at her mouth, squinting. "Uh…"

She slowed it down, starting with the first syllable.

"Ya? Aa? Oh, Ka!"

He finally got it when she did her best to make a K sound with her tongue, though it turned out to be difficult because along with whatever tissue was in her voice box, it seemed some of the controller muscles to her tongue were messed up and she couldn't really make it work properly. Otherwise she could have just whispered it.

"Okay, so Ka…Kao, no, Kayo, no, Kako? Shit…fine. Bo, Co, Do, Fo…" He proceeded to go down the list until he hit, "…Go. Go? So, Kago? Oh, right, there's another one. Damnit."

She mouthed _"me"_ and then pointed towards herself.

"Me? Kagomee?"

She winced at the slight mispronunciation and made a _"sort of"_ wave of her hand.

"Oh, uh, Kagome?"

She nodded, feeling a broad grin split her lips.

He sighed. "Sheesh, glad that's over with."

At her expectant look he added, "Oh, yeah. My name's Inuyasha."

Her grin only grew larger, feeling like it was about to split her face in half. She had been wondering his name for so long that she felt nearly giddy at learning it.

"Okay, so, you coming?" he asked, gesturing in the presumed direction of his "pack."

She nodded and followed him, and they walked side by side for a while, her injuries making her slow.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hello! Sorry for being a smidge bit late again, Thursday seems to be turning out to be the day huh? Well anyways, I hope everyone enjoys the new chapter. :D


	5. Chapter 5

For the next few days, Inuyasha led her to his home. At first she simply walked next to him, but after a while the slow pace seemed to bother him and he huffed, picking her up and swinging her onto his back. He grabbed onto her legs to help support her weight, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, gasping in shock at the abrupt piggy back ride. She sputtered protests, which made no sound, and he ignored them.

Even with her on his back he was fast, running through the woods. She was amazed that she had managed to evade him for as long as she had.

So she spent the rest of those few days on his back.

At first she was a bit shy, but after a while she grew more comfortable and settled in, enjoying his warmth. After a bit she grew curious as to whether he had managed to heal completely from his wounds, partially because she was concerned about where to put her hands. She remembered there was an extremely deep one high up on his shoulder, a slash that had nearly disconnected all his shoulder muscles. Sparing him a sideways glance, she eased up closer, leaning to the side a little to try and see inside his collar. She couldn't see anything, but she was still careful about how she held him on that side, just in case.

They rested at night, camping out on the ground. She would get the fire started and he would gather firewood and then she would curl up near the flames and he would sit against a nearby tree, the sword he carried at his waist propped up against his shoulder in front of him. He also turned out to be a very good hunter, which didn't really surprise her, and so he was able to catch rabbits and fish and birds for their meals. He didn't catch any large game since they couldn't eat it all by themselves.

During those few days, Kagome felt like she was making up for lost time, and she tried to prompt him silently to tell her whatever he wanted to about himself. Since he had to look at her to figure out the prompts and since she wasn't comfortable enough to try and breath words into his ear, they mostly conversed face to face at meal times and after camping for the night. Then Kagome would gesture wildly.

That first night she was a bit shy, and so her hand signs were timid, small, not very communicative. She started by trying to ask where he was from. She mouthed _"where"_ and looked around a little in mock confusion and then pointed at him.

He blinked and then nodded in comprehension. "Oh, where am I from?" At her nod he said, "All over. I've traveled lots, and I was born pretty far away, but I've spent most of my recent years here since becoming part of Kaede's pack."

She cocked her head and mouthed _"who?"_

"Kaede? She's my Alpha. She took me in about 2 years ago I guess?"

And so it continued. As it turned out, Inuyasha was difficult to get anything out of when it came to himself; he didn't like talking too much about his personal life. But she was able to get some info out of him on other stuff, and by talking she slowly started answering all those questions about him that she had been asking herself. She couldn't help but wonder what he thought of humans, and wondered, if he knew she was really a human, would he be talking to her like this? It made her feel slightly uneasy and guilty.

They continued to converse in that way, and as Kagome got more comfortable, she began to make larger gestures with her hands, and he began to get more used to this particular mode of conversing. It was difficult, but they managed.

It wasn't too long before they crested a last hill and were looking down on what seemed to be a nice village set into an area more cleared of trees, almost like a little valley.

"This is my home. I'll take you to Kaede and introduce you." Inuyasha said over his shoulder and she tapped his shoulder once for yes. They had come up with the system of once for yes and twice for no, and three for maybe or neither. They had come up with that so she could at least somewhat communicate with him while on his back, which is where she spent most of her time. So he ended up asking her only yes or no questions mostly, when she was on his back. Or else he would give her a list of options and she would tap out the number of the correct option. It worked, even though it was a bit tedious.

He nodded and they set off, going right through the center of the village. At the edge of the village he set her down so she could walk beside him and they could communicate better. Midway through they bumped into a black haired man, a little older than them, and when he turned and saw Kagome, a broad grin stretched his lips.

"Well hello there! And what is your name?"

"Her name is Kagome, and she's not up for grabs. So back off, Miroku."

Kagome sent a nervous glance at Inuyasha, practically hearing the hackles rising. Then her attention was drawn back to the black haired man, Miroku apparently, when he grabbed her hand, totally ignoring Inuyasha.

"Kagome! What a lovely name. My name is Miroku." His face grew serious, and he leaned in a little closer. "Kagome, would you consider bearing my children?"

Kagome flushed, her eyes growing wide, and then she grew angry, yanking her hand back and scowling fiercely as she backed at top speed into Inuyasha, who wrapped an arm around her and snarled at Miroku.

"Back the fuck off you pervert monk!" He barked, slashing the air with his claws.

Miroku nimbly ducked and the deadly slashes went harmlessly over his head.

"My apologies, I didn't realize she was your lady, Inuyasha."

"She's… she's not my…fuck it all, you irritating dumbass. Besides, Sango's gonna have your hide. Aren't you two already mated?"

"Not yet, she keeps spurning my advances."

Kagome glanced at Inuyasha and rolled her eyes as she mouthed, _"I can't imagine why…"_

He snorted, getting the gist.

They steamrolled by the monk, who just shrugged and went on his merry way.

Kagome glanced at Inuyasha and mouthed _"monk?"_ pointing back at the pervert and then miming praying and then making a _"the heck?"_ kind of gesture with her hands.

He snorted. "Yeah, he's a monk. Although shaman is typically the more respected term amongst us demons, so that's probably why you're confused."

She nodded.

Soon they were arriving at a hut that looked like any other and Inuyasha gestured for her to enter. She did, followed closely by Inuyasha, who called out, "Oi! Kaede, you home, you old hag?"

Kagome's mouth dropped open and she sent Inuyasha a shocked look.

Then she whirled back around as she heard tsking and took in the form of an old, slightly stooped over woman with an eye patch, coming out of the curtain covered back parts of the hut.

"Disrespectful as usual. Impudent child."

Then her eye turned to Kagome and she raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Oh my, ye brought a friend, Inuyasha. How unusual."

"Yeah, I ran across her while out scouting. She's…well I dunno how to explain it. She's been through some shit."

"Language, Inuyasha."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." At her scolding look, he heaved a sigh and grumbled, "Sorry."

"So, what is it that happened to ye, Child?" The kind old women sent a look at her and she cringed, trying not to be scared.

She was nervous for sure, the last old demon she had met had ripped her throat out and broken every bone in her body several times over, so she was trying to convince herself not to be scared, especially as she took in all the herbs and stuff lining the walls, so similar to Urasue's hut. She didn't even realize that she had eased behind Inuyasha until he frowned back at her.

"Hey, what's the problem, Kagome?"

She cringed, and then smiled at him, trying to straighten up from her surprisingly hunched position. She still couldn't help her eyes from darting all over the room, looking at all the suspicious ingredients and then at the fire, looking for a big pot like the other woman had used. When she didn't see one on the fire her eyes darted around some more, finally landing on the cauldron leaning up against the wall. She winced again.

She had almost forgotten about the woman until she spoke, making her jump and shrink against Inuyasha, who craned his neck even further over his shoulder to give her a confused look.

"She is frightened Inuyasha, that is what the problem is. Child, can ye speak?"

Kagome shook her head, her hand automatically cupping over her throat, a shot of remembered pain making her swallow convulsively.

Kaede's eyes softened. "I see. Mayhap ye have been on the wrong side of a spell?"

Kagome nodded, pretty sure that was what had happened to her.

Inuyasha then spoke. "A spell!? Why haven't you said anything Kagome? What kind of spell was it? Who did it to you?!" His voice came out louder and more aggressive with every word, sounding like he was about to take up arms.

"Inuyasha, calm yerself. Come, both of ye, sit with me and we shall talk."

She gestured to some mats laid out on the ground and they all sat, Kagome gathering her courage and sitting a normal distance from Inuyasha, even though she had the urge to continue to hide behind him.

Once they were all settled, Kaede turned to Kagome. "Now, first of all, ye have nothing to fear from me. I do not perform evil spells, in fact I rarely do spells at all. Most of these ingredients are for medicine, poultices and tinctures, salves and herbal teas, things such as those. So be at ease, Child."

Kagome relaxed some, relieved to hear that Kaede wasn't a witch like she had been afraid of.

Seeing that she had relaxed, Kaede continued. "Good, now, Inuyasha, start from the beginning and tell me how ye found her."

So Inuyasha launched into the whole story, even mentioning the mauled berry bush at which point Kagome flushed. She flushed harder when Inuyasha told Kaede about how she had transformed back into a human stark naked, and she lightly smacked his arm.

He flinched. "What?! She wanted to know the whole story, and that's important!"

Kagome huffed, grousing.

"So that is why she is wearing your robe of the fire rat I presume?" Kaede continued, unruffled by the little spat.

Inuyasha nodded, grumbling under his breath.

Once she had gotten the whole story from Inuyasha, she turned to Kagome. "So, Inuyasha said that you don't have anywhere else to go to, is this correct?"

Kagome nodded, grimacing.

"I see. And is it because of any wrong doing on your part?"

Kagome flinched and bobbed her head side to side in a _"sort of"_ gesture.

"Try to communicate to me what happened. I don't wish to bring up any bad memories, but I need to know if you will present any danger to my pack."

It made sense. After all, this woman was the Alpha of this pack, and Kagome took that to mean that she was the leader. Her first priority would be to make sure her pack was safe. So Kagome proceeded to try and mime sneaking out, and when that became complicated, she used the dirt floor, drawing first a house and pointing to herself to indicate that it was hers. The other two watched intently, and she noticed that Inuyasha in particular was watching closely, his fluffy white ears pointed all the way forwards. Kaede's silver-gray ears were likewise forwards and at attention.

Then Kagome drew a line and used her hand like a person, walking it on two fingers to the line. She hopped it over the line, and then drew a big X.

Kaede interpreted. "So, ye live on one side of a barrier, one that ye are not supposed to cross?"

Kagome nodded in confirmation.

"And I'm guessing ye crossed that barrier and got caught." At Kagome's impressed nod, she continued. "Was crossing the barrier putting others at risk?"

Kagome bit her lip and her face scrunched up. She slowly nodded, but then vigorously mouthed, _"I didn't know!"_

"I see, then ye were innocent of everything but curiosity." At Kagome's confirmation, Kaede asked, "And ye were banished because of it?"

She shook her head and mimed a flying bird with her hands and flew them away from herself.

"So ye escaped then?"

Kagome was getting a little tired of nodding. She glanced to the side, noting that Inuyasha was looking at her intently, almost like he was trying to read her like a book. She wondered if maybe he was figuring out that she was the one who had flown away on that bird. Not entirely sure if that was a good thing, because that would mean that he'd figure out she wasn't really a demon, she kept her mouth and hands to herself and let him think it over.

She was distracted by Kaede. "So, this evil spell was after ye escaped from yer previous home? I see. Was it one that was forced on ye or did ye sign a contract?"

Kagome mimed signing and Kaede closed her eyes and sighed. "That was what I was afraid of. A spell can be broken, but a contract cannot unless ye kill the contractor. I'm guessing yer voice was the price?"

Kagome nodded.

Inuyasha was scowling fiercely and she couldn't tell if he was angry at her, or angry about what they were talking about … or really what he was angry about, but he was definitely angry about something.

She didn't have long to wonder.

"What the fuck Kagome? Why would you make a deal like that? What was so important that you gave away your voice?"

She cringed, looking down.

"There are many reasons why someone would strike a deal, Inuyasha, and if Kagome here led a sheltered life she would be easy prey for an evil witch. Do not blame her."

Inuyasha flinched and his ears drooped a little.

"So, if ye signed a contract then ye have terms to complete for the agreement to be complete. Are these terms anything that could pose danger to my pack? No? Good. Then ye are free to stay here for however long ye have left."

"What do you mean, however long she has left?" Inuyasha demanded harshly.

"If she signed a contract, and doesn't complete the requirements, then chances are she will have to pay the price. Usually that means the witch will take her soul or her life. And these bargains are usually rigged and very difficult to complete."

"No! I'll kill the damn witch before she takes Kagome!" Inuyasha barked, nearly leaping to his feet.

Kaede's brows rose and she looked a bit surprised at Inuyasha's response. "For her sake, I hope ye can Inuyasha. But witches are notoriously difficult to kill. Child, how long do ye have?"

Kagome held up three fingers.

Inuyasha snarled. "Three?! Three what? Days? Weeks?" Kagome gestured and Inuyasha groaned. "Weeks?! Three WEEKS?! That's all you have to complete whatever shit it is ya gotta do?!" At her confirmation he snarled again. "Well, I guess I got three weeks to figure out how to kill me a witch. Any tips Kaede?"

She shrugged. "Get as strong as ye can."

"Thanks. Great tip." He snarled sarcastically.

She just shrugged again.

And so, it was determined that she would be staying with Kaede for the time being, and Inuyasha left after a while, going to his own den supposedly.

"Do ye need a bath, Child? Or mayhap food?" Kaede asked gently.

Kagome nodded vigorously, her eyes lighting up at the thought of a bath and real food. The grandmotherly figure laughed and led her into the back room. "Come, there is a hot spring nearby that ye can bath in. I will show you."

She followed the old alpha out into the woods a little ways, and they swiftly came upon a nice secluded hot spring, which was already in use by another woman.

"Sango, good to see ye my dear. We have a newcomer here who is in desperate need of a bath, mayhap ye could help her find her way back to my den after? I will have dinner ready, if ye would like to join us."

The woman turned and smiled, relaxing from her ready-to-attack mode and setting down an enormous weapon. "Oh, Kaede it's just you. I thought it was Miroku back to try and peek again."

"Ah yes, there is no controlling that man."

Kagome snorted and rolled her eyes, remembering the guy they were talking about. Yep he had seemed to be a bit of an ass.

"I take it he's already asked for you to bear his children?" Sango asked, and she jumped guiltily. At her worried look Sango snorted. "Figures. Oh, don't worry I'm not mad at you, just at him."

"By the way, Kagome cannot speak."

"Oh, okay."

At that, Kaede left her alone with the other woman and she looked around nervously, a bit embarrassed to be undressing in front of someone she had just met.

"It's okay, I'll close my eyes until you get in the water okay?" Sango said, and to confirm it she put her hands over her eyes.

Grinning thankfully even if she couldn't see it, Kagome swiftly stripped out of Inuyasha's fire rat robe and stepped into the water, sighing happily when she did.

After a while her shyness melted away, Sango proving to be a true pleasure to be around and so easy going that she found herself relaxing.

"Here, could you scrub my back?" Sango asked, holding out a long bath brush.

Kagome blinked, but smiled and nodded.

"Only if you don't mind."

Kagome shook her head and twirled her finger in a circle to ask Sango to turn around. She gasped, shocked when she saw a long scar running the length of the other woman's back. At the gasp, Sango glanced back and saw where she was looking. "Oh, yeah, that. My brother, Kohaku, was possessed by another demon and was forced to attack me. That was a long time ago though. He still feels bad about it, but I've completely forgiven him, it wasn't his fault after all."

She told Kagome her story in a conversational tone, not seeming concerned about it, but there was definitely pain there when she mentioned how her brother felt bad about it. Kagome could sense that this incident had probably caused a lot of pain and grief for them and neither of the siblings were totally over it, but she didn't press the issue as she set about scrubbing the other woman's back, truly touched that she had divulged such a sensitive story.

Of course then it was her turn as she finished up Sango and she turned around, taking the brush from Kagome. "Would you like me to scrub your back?" she offered with a kind smile.

Kagome smiled back and nodded, turning around. Then she heard a hiss as the other woman reacted in much the same way as she herself had done at the sight of Sango's back.

"…damn. I'm amazed you seemed so shocked at mine, yours is ten times worse."

Kagome blinked, her eyebrows raising in shock as she craned her neck to try and see it. She still couldn't really, but she did catch a glimpse of shiny pink skin on her shoulder. It looked like the deeper slashes of the bamboo caning had stuck around, and despite her new healing capabilities, which must be from turning into a dog demon, they had turned into scars even though they had been fairly superficial wounds. She supposed it was probably because they had happened before she had been turned.

"What happened?" Sango asked after a long moment, and Kagome glanced around, looking for something she could draw in. As it turned out there was some sandy silt at the edge of the pool, and once Sango had finished with her back she gestured the other woman to join her next to the edge. She drew a bamboo into the silt and Sango looked at it with a frown, trying to figure it out. Kagome made a gesture like she was holding something in her fist and then made an over the head beating motion and Sango's eyes widened as she glanced back down to the bamboo drawing.

"You were caned?! With _bamboo_?!"

Kagome nodded and swam back to the center of the pool, floating on her back to stare up at the stars dreamily through the rising steam. This was the first time she had felt optimistic in…a while. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy. Probably when she had been caring for Inuyasha. She had been happy then, although his wounds had shocked and horrified her and she had been concerned for him.

Sango swam next to her and joined her in her stargazing. After a while, she whispered, "If you don't mind me asking…how…how did it happen?"

Kagome reached up so they could both see her hands and she held up one hand making it run on two fingers and climb over the wall of her other hand, and then her wall hand became another person and she mimed a bit of a fight and the second hand-person dragged the first hand-person back in the direction it had come from.

"You ran away, got caught and then…you were punished?"

Kagome nodded.

"That's … harsh. I guess you ran way again and were more successful the second time huh?"

Kagome shrugged and nodded, Sango getting the basic idea.

After a while more of conversing and soaking they both decided they were hungry and they got dressed and returned to Kaede's hut. She had dinner ready for them, and the three women ate supper together, conversing and laughing. Kagome managed to get her points across through drawing and gesturing, and the other two women didn't seem to mind at all. They fully incorporated her into the conversation.

"So…why are you wearing the fire rat robe? Inuyasha never takes that off for anyone."

Kagome flushed happily at that piece of information and started trying to reply, but Kaede took pity on her and said, "She doesn't know how to shift with her clothes yet. She's still untrained."

"Oh shit! So you transformed and then shifted back naked?!"

Kagome flushed hotter and nodded sheepishly.

Sango burst out laughing. "And how did Inuyasha react to that?!"

Kagome held her hand up and wiggle her fingers down, gesturing like it was the sun, and then wiggled her fingers out from her face, like it was the sun.

"He turned bright red like he got sunburned? Or he glowed like the sun?"

Kagome nodded.

"He seriously blushed?!"

She nodded again.

"Wow, I don't think I have ever seen Inuyasha blush…ever. What about you Kaede?"

"That boy has no shame."

"Yeah, exactly! He's never shown interest enough to blush. The most interest he's ever shown to anyone is Kikyo, and it seems that's more of a friendly love type of thing, like maybe he had a crush on her or something, but not really. He's so hard to tell."

Kagome perked and felt her ears suddenly point at Sango at full attention. She mouthed _"Kikyo?"_

"Yeah, Inuyasha's sort-of girlfriend, but not really. She definitely thinks of him as a boyfriend, but she's kind of stuck-up and aloof, so it's hard to tell. Don't get me wrong, she's an awesome person, super kind, but really quiet and not very social."

Kagome could feel herself droop right then and there, like a sped up version of a plant flopping over and dying from being watered too much. The other two women noticed right away.

Kaede cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? Do ye have feelings for the boy?"

She flushed bright red and tucked her chin to her chest, hiding as her ears went flat in embarrassment.

"Woah! She does! You totally have the hots for Inuyasha!" Sango gasped, shocked.

Kagome only pressed her lips together and flushed brighter red in response, getting laughs from the two older women. Sango was closer to her age, but definitely a few years older.

"Well, you have a chance with him so don't worry. Like I said, he doesn't seem too sure about Kikyo. They've been close for a long time and seem to almost have a love-hate relationship. They're friends and comrades more than lovers I think."

Kagome risked a hopeful look at them from under her eyelashes, getting a chortle from Kaede. "Don't look so miserable, Girl. Like Sango said, ye have a chance, especially since he gave ye his robe. Even if Sango was naked without a shred of clothing he probably wouldn't have given her that."

"Yeah, he'd have probably given me his white kosode first."

"True. And, speaking of, do ye need clothes?"

Kagome blinked, realizing that, yes, she did need clothes, and badly. With a vigorous nod and a grimace the other two women got the picture fast. "I have some clothes that might fit you. Until we can make you some of your own you can borrow them." Sango offered kindly, and Kagome smiled at her gratefully, mouthing, _"thank you."_

"Sure, I'll bring some over in the morning."

Soon, it was time for bed, and with a goodbye and a promise that she would be back at dawn with clothing, Sango was off. Kagome and Kaede bedded down for the night on two pallets made of reeds and cloth. Kagome was out before she knew what hit her and slept more soundly than she had for several days.

* * *

Author's Note:

Yay! Kagome gets to meet the rest of the gang. :3

As always, a big thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far, you guys are awsome.

Oh, and before I forget, as a disclaimer, no I do not own anything to do with Inuyasha. :D


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Sango stopped by bright and early just as promised. Kagome was still asleep when she arrived, and only woke up after being shaken by Kaede.

She snorted, and then yawned, sitting up and stretching as she realized what was going on.

"Good morning, sorry to wake you." Sango said, coming over and handing Kagome a stack of neatly folded clothes.

Kagome's eyes popped open and she woke up fully, staring at the pretty clothes in her hands. She grinned and mouthed _"thank you"_ again to Sango for lending them to her, before poking through them.

Then Sango got a teasing light in her eyes. "You know…if you want Inuyasha to fall for you, you should wear this one. I think he'll like it."

Kagome flushed, jumping at the sudden teasing. She playfully scowled up at Sango and pretended to scold her, which got a laugh, and then she pulled out the one Sango had recommended, mouthing _"this one?"_

Sango laughed even harder. "Yes. It'll bring out your eyes."

Kagome blinked and then proceeded to go with the suggested selection, sliding on the loose blue hakama, slipped on a thin white kosode with long wide sleeves, and then belted the amber colored short tunic over that. The tunic was fitted and belted firmly around her waist with a wide obi, so it showed off the shape and curve of her waist. The crisscrossed neckline was designed to be a bit low, and showed off the slightly sheer kosode she wore underneath the sleeveless tunic, and sequentially showed off a bit of her chest in a modest way. It really was a pretty outfit, much more so that anything she had worn before, having to stick to relatively bland dresses.

The color did indeed bring out her amber colored eyes and she grinned, ecstatic. Kaede nodded approvingly.

"Ye look very fair Child, I don't doubt he will be impressed."

Kagome flushed, smiling even wider. Then jumped a foot in the air and air-squeaked as the man under topic burst in through the door.

"Hey." He announced himself.

Kaede sighed and rolled her eyes. "Do ye know how to knock, Inuyasha?"

"Sure…you bang on the door."

"Then how about ye try practicing it?"

"Fine, fine, whatever." He huffed, making a funny little huffing noise that sounded like, "huh!"

Kaede sighed and seemed to give up on it, going to another topic of conversation. "Inuyasha, now that ye are here, why don't ye show Kagome the village? She is a guest after all. And your guest at that."

He blinked, then shrugged. "Okay, sure. Ya ready to go, Kago…me…?" He stalled half-way through her name, blinking at her wide-eyed, seeming to only just notice her new clothes.

She started and then gathered up his robe, handing it to him with a smile.

"Oh, so you got some new clothes, huh?" He asked, looking at the robe she had handed back to him. She had already put the sleeves back on where they were supposed to go, and so he just had to slip it on, which he did.

She nodded and pointed at Sango.

Inuyasha glanced at the other woman. Sango's dark brown ears were twitching with amusement, before she could say anything though she was interrupted by a tiny cat demon trotting in, trilling in the cutest sounding mew that Kagome had ever heard. She immediately spawned stars in her eyes as she knelt down making kissy sounds to the adorable creature.

The little striped cat came over, sniffing her fingers and then purred, rubbing against her hand. Kagome grinned broadly, scratching the cat gently under the chin with her claws, being mindful of the sharp tips.

"Wow, Kilala usually doesn't take to people so quickly, you must be an animal lover, Kagome."

Kagome nodded, still totally absorbed by the tiny creature. After a while she glanced up at Sango and pointed at Kilala, mouthing, _"yours?"_

Sango nodded, "Yes, she's my companion, as odd as it might seem for a dog-demon to have a cat-demon as a companion. We've been together since I was a kid."

After a few minutes playing with the cute cat-demon, she was dragged out of the hut by an impatient Inuyasha, and they began their tour. It was very amusing. Inuyasha wasn't exactly the perfect tour-guide, but Kagome found herself having a difficult time trying not to not laugh as he described things in his own way.

"This is a well. You get water out of it …. That's where the pervy monk lives, he's fun to drink sake with …. And this is Sango's house, she lives with her younger brother Kohaku, don't say anything inappropriate about Sango around him, he'll come after you with his chain scythe …. Here are some trees I like to sit in …. That's a baker, don't steal his buns, he'll smack you good with his rolling pin …. That's the communal outhouse over there. There's others scattered around the village, though most dens have their own, but if you use any of the communal ones take your weapon in with you so you can kill anyone stupid enough to walk in on you …. The plums are in season now, you should try some. But if you sit up in the tree and eat them, watch where you spit the pits, cause I nearly got brained by Sango when I got one in her ponytail."

Snickering quietly, Kagome mimed the massive weapon she had seen last night.

"Yeah, the Hiraikotsu. It's like a giant boomerang, and it hurts like fuck when she smacks you over the head with it."

Kagome snorted, then grinned evilly and mimed the pervy monk, putting her hand at her crotch and sticking a finger out like a dick before bringing her hands up like she was praying.

Inuyasha got it immediately, stared at her wide-eyed for a second, shocked, and then burst out laughing. "Oh god, Kagome, your gesture is the best nickname Miroku has ever gotten." After guffawing loudly a little more, he continued, "Ha, yeah, he gets whacked by the Hiraikotsu more than anyone else."

After a while the conversation died down a little, and they simply walked together, enjoying each other's company and pointing out things here and there that they found interesting.

A few minutes later, Kagome happened to glance over as they were walking, and noticed that Inuyasha had grabbed his collar and was lifting it up to his nose, sniffing it deeply. She frowned, and waved a hand to get his attention, then gestured at his collar, cocking her head to ask, _"what are you doing?"_

He blinked, flushing a little bit. "It smells like you." He said simply.

Kagome's mouth dropped open and she blushed, thinking that it stunk or something. She waved her hands around and mouthed _"I'm sorry!"_

He snorted. "Eh? What're you going on about? It smells nice."

That stopped Kagome's wild waving, but made her flush brighter and hotter than before as she simply mouthed, _"oh."_

There was an awkward silence as they walked after that, and Kagome couldn't help but smile as she decided that he must like her scent, which was definitely a step in the right direction. She was so giddy in fact, that she nearly ran into another woman who was coming in the opposite direction. She saw her just in time to stop and then took a hasty step back out of the other woman's personal space, waving her hands around and mouthing _"I'm sorry!"_ before bowing apologetically.

"Kikyo…" Inuyasha said, smiling a little tensely.

Kagome glanced from him to the other woman, and then it clicked. This was the infamous Kikyo, Inuyasha's sort-of girlfriend. She immediately began looking her over, taking note of her perfect long silky hair, her fine boned face, her ample chest. Kikyo was beautiful, and Kagome suddenly felt a little nervous and awkward as she decided this other woman was prettier than her.

Kikyo also looked her up and down, not seeming too impressed by what she saw judging from the slightly tight and sour expression on her face, and then turned to Inuyasha.

"Is this the new girl you brought into the village, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, this is Kagome. Kagome, this is Kikyo, she's uh…a friend."

Kagome winced as Kikyo's eyes narrowed at the introduction. So very awkward. She sort of waved a little in greeting, trying to smile but feeling it quaver just a little.

Kikyo didn't really acknowledge her, their eyes met and then the other woman shifted her attention right back to Inuyasha in a bit of a dismissal. "You carry her scent all over you, Inuyasha."

The statement was so bland that it was more a notation of the fact instead of a question, but there was definitely a question there, and a pointed one at that. Inuyasha frowned, definitely picking up on it.

"Makes sense. She was wearing my robe of the fire rat for the last few days. And I only just got it back."

Kikyo's eyebrows raised in surprise. "She was wearing it?"

Inuyasha nodded, jerking a thumb at her. "She's been through some rough shit and when I found her, all her belongings had been taken. She didn't have anything to wear, so I lent her my coat."

Kikyo nodded, and Kagome saw a spark of empathy in the other woman's eyes as she glanced back at her, her look a little softer this time around.

"I apologize; I didn't know the circumstances in which you found her."

After a little bit of slightly more pleasant conversation, Kikyo went and made it awkward again by offering to do Inuyasha's laundry. "I can wash your robe of the fire rat for you Inuyasha, if you would like. I intended to do my own laundry today, so if you would like to add yours it wouldn't be an imposition."

Kagome blinked, a little wide eyed at Kikyo's audacity. It was obvious that she was basically saying, _"let me wash this other girl's scent from your clothes and maybe put a little of mine on them instead."_

She had to wonder if scent was like a possession thing in the dog-demon world, and maybe his sort-of-girlfriend took offense at him wearing someone else's scent. Concerned and curious as to what Inuyasha would do, she slid her eyes to the side to take a peek at his expression.

He had a bit of a narrow-eyed almost-frown going on, and he didn't look overly enthused by the offer. He gave Kikyo a pleasant smile and said, "Uh…nah, I'll pass. Thanks for the offer though."

Kagome's eyebrows twitched and she looked back at Kikyo, to see her face tighten.

"I see. So you wish to continue wearing her scent?"

Kagome cringed, realizing that Kikyo may be nice and obviously did possess an empathetic nature, but was also apparently kind of possessive and a bit of the jealous type – not to mention blunt as a tack that had been stepped on one too many times.

Inuyasha didn't seem happy with the way the conversation was going. "What's your problem, Kikyo? I like the way it smells."

Kagome very nearly face-palmed, making another discovery about Inuyasha. If Kikyo was blunt, then Inuyasha was blunt trauma. He way _more_ than blunt, not overly tactful, and apparently didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. Based off this situation she suspected that Inuyasha suffered from foot-in-mouth-syndrome.

Kikyo didn't appreciate the response, understandably, and she just gave a tight, polite smile. "Don't you think that may give people the wrong impression, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha was quickly losing his patience. "The hell's wrong with that? I don't give a fuck what anyone else thinks." His arms crossed angrily across his chest.

Kagome was beginning the think that maybe he also really didn't like being told what to do.

"It's your choice," was all Kikyo said, and then she turned and calmly walked away.

Inuyasha was left steaming and irritable and he stomped off, with Kagome following at a brisk pace. They left the village entirely and set off into the woods, eventually coming to a small clearing. Without any more ado, Inuyasha launched into an exceptionally large tree with nice thick branches and settled down, apparently intending to sulk for a while.

Kagome gauged the distance between the lowest hanging branch and the ground, a little nervous and apprehensive since she had never attempted climbing a tree before. However, it appeared to be significantly safer than her normal wall climbs, so after a little eyeballing she gave a bit of a jump to latch onto the lowest branch. She managed it easily enough, now that she was finally acclimating to her new muscles, and she found it a simple matter to swing herself up onto the branch. To her pleasant surprise, she found her balance and strength to be significantly better now than when she had been a human, so hopping up to join Inuyasha on his branch was a very easy task.

She perched her butt on the branch next to him.

At first, she just admired the view, enjoying the sight of the branches of the forest all around her and the view she was privy to, seeing them all from this height. After a while though, her attention was drawn to Inuyasha himself, and she found it impossible to keep her eyes from straying in his direction. He was staring moodily at the sky through the branches, which meant she could admire him for a little bit without him noticing.

She had been right when she had figured his eyes would be expressive, and that was before she had even seen the golden color of them clearly, never knowing they could be so molten sometimes. After a while he noticed her staring and his eyes shifted towards hers.

"What?" He asked with a slightly aggravated expression.

Kagome just shrugged and shook her head, smiling.

He stared at her for a bit and then heaved a sigh, seeming to unclench a little. His gaze returned to the sky. "I like it here. This tree is nice."

When his eyes flicked back to her she mouthed _"why?"_

He shrugged. "Dunno. You don't see many of this kind of tree. It's roomier, taller, and it smells nice."

Kagome nodded, thinking those were all good qualities for a tree to have. It made sense to her, after all she would have much preferred sitting in a tree to sitting on a wall.

They sat there for a while in silence. Kagome mostly just watched Inuyasha, as he watched the clouds. After some time he glanced back at her, an eyebrow twitching and his ears slicking back a bit when he saw that she was still staring at him.

"That's unnerving ya know. Just staring at me like that."

Kagome frowned, flushed, and looked down, mouthing _"sorry."_

With a sigh, Inuyasha shifted, moving to brace his back against the tree trunk to face her. "It's fine, just seems like you wanna say something to me."

Kagome made a face and Inuyasha made a quick correction. "Uh! I mean I know you can't! That's not what I…shit." He groaned and she glanced up, amused by his convoluted sentence.

He tried again. "What I meant was, when you're staring at me like that, it's like you're communicating with just your eyes, like you're saying stuff I can't quite understand, but sorta do…if that makes any damn sense."

Kagome just blinked and rose her eyebrows, surprised.

Inuyasha's mouth quirked a little. "It's funny, it's kinda like … because you can't speak, I have to be super aware of every expression you make, so I guess maybe I've got a better idea of what you're thinking cause I have to basically read your mind."

Kagome thought about that for a minute and then nodded and bobbed her head in a, _"makes sense"_ sort of way.

There was some more silence, and then very quietly, almost to himself, Inuyasha said, "It's kinda nice…I don't have to worry about you lying to me."

Kagome looked down and away, feeling her stomach drop to her toes. Technically she _was_ lying to him, about being a demon and everything, and now she just felt terrible about it.

As he took in her crestfallen expression, he added, "I know you're hiding some shit, Kagome. Don't look so fucking worried."

She glanced back up, giving him a pathetic, _"really? you mean it?"_ sort of expression with her eyebrows raised and her eyes big and baby-like.

She was soothed by his calm, if slightly cranky expression. She searched his eyes with her own, wishing she could tell him she was really a human woman, and wondering if he would totally reject her because of it. If only there was some way to just look into his eyes and find the information, like if there was a " _human-acceptance_ " fleck or something. Of course there was no such thing, but she kept looking into his eyes, both soothed and strangely excited by the warm golden tone. He had such beautiful eyes, and she felt like she could get lost in them.

She suspected she probably had a stupid, sappy expression stamped all over her face, but she couldn't stop, too engrossed with simply drinking him in. She had done all of this for him after all, and there was that niggling thought in the back of her mind that had been saying, _"is he really worth it?"_ repetitively like an annoying squeaky wheel.

So now, here she was, staring at him, with him meeting her gaze just as intensely, and she was almost silently asking him, _"Are you? Are you really worth all this pain and suffering I've undergone to be with you? You, a demon who I barely even know? Could you really be my everything? Could you be worth my life?"_

It seemed like time stopped, the world politely postponing everything else as she searched his eyes for her answers to the most important question.

She had heard that eyes were the window to the soul, and she could sort of understand where that saying came from now. As she gazed at him she could see surprise, curiosity, cautiousness. And yet he didn't look away, even though at first he seemed a little uncomfortable with it. He held her gaze unflinchingly, and the more she looked into him, the more she could see an iron will, which sort of surprised her since he seemed so impatient a lot of the time. Yet here, he was showing her a whole new side of himself, an unwavering internal strength and conviction.

Anyone who was as obviously uncomfortable as he was right now would have normally been unable to hold her gaze for this long, but he met her, look for look, eyeball to eyeball - he didn't back down. And yet, there wasn't really a challenge in the way he looked at her. At first, there was a hint of that as he clearly was wondering if she was challenging him to a staring contest, and with that there had been a spark of interest and playfulness that showed he had a fun side too.

But as she continued to gaze, he had quickly figured out that this wasn't some kind of game and he settled down. With that, the curiosity melted away somewhat, though it was still there a little as he seemed to ask her through his own eyes what she wanted from him, what she was looking for. The more he accommodated her, the more she could see softness in his eyes too, the slightly guarded look being gradually replaced by one of openness and something else.

She had known that she loved him, it was obvious in her actions. You don't simply go and do the things she had done for someone that you don't love. But even so, her love had started out as more of an immature crush or idolization. She hadn't loved _him_ so much as she loved what he stood for, the unknown, freedom, a new life. But now, after getting to know him these past few days, those emotions had been slowly changing into something deeper, and she wondered if it was healthy to pin all her hopes on him, to get so invested so quickly.

It was a little late to be asking those questions of course, she had already bet her life on this gamble.

And yet, she was beginning to think she hadn't made such a terrible bet at all. He had been kind, caring, considerate, showing her sides that he apparently didn't show to many people given the surprise that the others had shown upon finding out he had taken such care of her. And even though he was rough around the edges, very rough in fact, and went out of his way to hide those softer, nicer parts of him, she could see it. This moment in particular was telling, him simply sitting there and letting her judge him, read him for information that he didn't even know. He was showing her trustworthiness, loyalty, steadfastness, strength, and understanding. Even if he didn't know it.

Before she knew she was doing it, her visual interrogation ceased as she reached her answer. It was not conscious, and she didn't feel the way her face relaxed or how her eyes softened. The look she gave him now was not one of searching, but one of conveying, though she didn't know it.

All she knew was that she had reached the conclusion that he was worth everything, and that something had clicked in her. This felt right, _he_ felt right. And suddenly, all those emotions that she had been pondering swelled within her, making her chest feel warm and tight and happy, but sort of painful too, like a bubble that was filled too much and was about to pop. She didn't even know that there was a perceivable change in her expression or the way she had been looking at him, until he sort of blinked and cocked his head to the side. And then his head straitened and his eyes grew more intense, almost seeming to be the one asking questions of her now.

On the other side of the table now, she found out how hard it was to hold someone's gaze when they were looking at you so intensely, and if she had her wits about her she would have wondered how Inuyasha had done it so calmly. Yet…it was impossible to look away, and though the abrupt change in the way he was looking at her made her nervous at first, she refused to look away. She felt insanely vulnerable though, as if he could read her every thought, and she could feel a blush blooming on her cheeks, surprisingly the first one since this whole eye-conversation had started.

She held his eyes, and then grew stuck, unable to look away even if she wanted to, and the molten gold almost mesmerized her. The longer she held that searching look, the more she relaxed, slowly unclenching from the nerves that had shot through her, and opened up again, letting herself meet him eye to eye. As she stopped thinking about it and simply met his gaze, those emotions resurfaced, the ones that made her feel tingly and happy and light as a feather but strangely heavy at the same time, buoyant and giddy, but crushed under the weight and intensity. It was odd and contradictory, but felt wonderful all the same.

Abruptly she grew to be at peace with all the choices that she had made, even the bad ones, because they had all brought her here, to this moment frozen in time, where she could look at this person, and know that everything was right with the world. Nothing else mattered. It was worth it. _He_ was worth it. Even if it all went south, she wouldn't regret a thing, because at least she had gotten this.

INUYASHA POV

At first the weird eye-contact thing was a bit perturbing, but he held her gaze, let her look for whatever it was she was obviously seeking. He wasn't really sure why he did it, since normally, if anyone had tried to pull a stunt like this on him he would have popped them upside the head and told them to stop being weird. But this … this was somehow different. It was uncomfortable, and he sort of wished he had the wherewithal to do what he normally would, but something undefinable stopped him.

And so, he was stuck staring at her, and letting her stare at him. She seemed to be judging him, almost, but not in a way that made him want to hide or crawl out of his skin. He was used to being judged, having been an outcast most of his life - being an orphan without a pack, or a family, or friends up until a few years ago.

The way she looked at him though, it didn't spark those memories the way it did when other people stared at him. Instead, it was as if she was asking questions of him, questions she couldn't vocalize because she had no voice.

It was intense, and uncomfortable, but also…strangely…warm. It made him feel warm inside, and kind of soft and fuzzy, in a way he had never felt before. It was very weird.

Soon enough the eye interrogation ended, and she seemed to reach whatever conclusion she had wanted. It seemed that she was pleased with whatever answer she had come up with, because her intensity faded into softness, her whole face relaxing and looking happy now. Her previously piercing amber eyes turned to warm, sweet honey, and she looked at him in a way no one had ever looked at him before. Blinking, he cocked his head, trying to place the expression, wondering what had brought it on.

It was unlike anything he had ever seen before in the eyes of another.

As he wondered what she could possibly be thinking or feeling to make her look at him like that, he unconsciously traded places with her, looking at her harder for answers. As he stared, and wondered what was going on inside of her, she suddenly flushed and grew a bit bashful, almost seeming uncomfortable. It took him a moment to realize it was because of him, and the way he was searchingly looking at her now.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he was amused at how the coin had flipped, but he didn't let it show.

Now it was his turn to try to figure her out. He had accommodated her, let her stare at him intensely for he didn't know how long, so turnabout was only fair play in his opinion.

And he had plenty of questions to ask her in this very odd manner of soul searching. Why was she here? What had happened to her? Was she really the girl he was looking for? Had she been the one to care for him, and if so, why? Why had she smelled like a human if she was the girl who had saved him? There were too many questions to count really.

Those questions only lasted a short while, since none of them could be answered in this manner, but they all swam in his mind as he stared at her and wondered. As he looked at her, she slowly seemed to relax, and that same sort of odd, soft, warm expression came back to her face, and it gave him the same sort of kick in the gut as before.

Why did she make him feel like this?

This was…it was different from anything he had felt before. Then again, she was different from anyone he had ever met before, so he supposed it made sense. Still…

He disturbingly almost felt as if he could sit here and stare into her eyes for forever, as if all the answers he sought were in there somewhere, he just had to stay put long enough to learn how to translate them. It was a long time before he was able to shake himself out of the odd trance he had sunk into, getting lost in the exceptionally peculiar moment.

The moment had to end eventually though.

He jerked back and shook his head, breaking the eye-contact rather abruptly and in his normal gruff manner as he was suddenly uncomfortable with what had just transpired. He jumped out of the tree and called back up to her that they needed to head back to the village. It was getting dark.

They somewhat awkwardly returned to the village, both of them realizing that it was growing close to the end of the day as he had said. Kagome returned to Kaede's hut, seeming happier than when they had left, and Inuyasha went off to his own den, perching in the large tree outside of it and staring up at the stars to try and calm his mind.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter. :3

So now we have Kikyo in the mix, and things might be a little...tense between the two ladies, hahaha.

Also, I hope everyone liked the little romantic scene there at the end, even if Inuyasha had to go and ruin it at the end. :3


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, though she wanted to go and spend another day with Inuyasha, Kaede recommended that she should learn how to use demon magic. Which made sense. As Kaede said, "It wouldn't do for ye to go running around naked after shifting every time."

And so, they set off for a clearing where she could practice in private, and Kaede tutored her. To start with, she had Kagome learn the spells to put on her clothes to keep them on her body. It didn't make sense, because the whole process basically shifted them into another dimension while she was transformed, and then shifted them back onto her when she transformed back into a human. It was simple, a very short mantra before she could transform, which she memorized. Thankfully it didn't have to be spoken out loud and she could simply say it with her breath. But to make it work, she had to tap into her demon powers, which was difficult because she also had conflicting spiritual powers that had stuck around from her being human, and they were of a different nature.

When she failed to produce good results, Kaede asked, "What seems to be the problem? Can ye not find them?"

Kagome shook her head. And mouthed, _"I can."_

"Then what's the problem? Simply tap into them and direct them with the mantra."

Kagome tried again, putting everything into it, but instead of the slight glow that would signal it worked she got an explosion that set the grass on fire. Kagome yelped silently and jumped a foot in the air, scrambling back out of the fire zone, while Kaede stomped it out.

"Well. That was unexpected." She stated blandly afterwards, and Kagome shot her an incredulous look.

"Here, let me test your powers. Put your hands in mine."

Kagome did as asked, and laid her hands palm down on Kaede's offered hands. She closed her eyes and flinched as a weird feeling sparked up. It felt like Kaede was poking around inside of her, in a really uncomfortable way, but she put up with it, knowing it would help.

As she watched, Kaede's eyebrows shot up in pure shock.

"My goodness! Ye are totally out of balance! Ye have powers belonging to a priestess, and those of a demon's, much like Miroku in fact. But yers are all over the place, not working together at all. I will need to do some energy work on ye Child, to get yer energy back in balance."

Kagome nodded and Kaede led her to a slightly cushier place to sit. They parked themselves on their behinds, facing each other, and then Kaede took Kagome's hands again.

"This may be uncomfortable I'm afraid."

Kagome nodded to show she understood, and Kaede began. She was right, it was uncomfortable, and Kagome flinched as she felt Kaede assert her power over her own. It was like she was flooded with Kaede, but she relaxed, the older woman's powers not hurting her at all. They were warm and pleasant really, just a little overwhelming and on the invasive side of things. She put up no resistance as she felt Kaede grab ahold of her chaotic mass of energy, working through the mess gently but firmly. It felt similar to having her hair brushed out, if her hair was an absolute tangled rat's mess from hell. It hurt a little as the knots were detangled, but once it was all brushed out it felt much better.

It took a while, Kaede gently separating the mass of energy, and then once everything was separated she started combining them, almost like she was braiding the freshly unknotted mass out into one, neat, tight, braid that combined everything in a balanced, orderly fashion.

Kagome couldn't help the twitches and winces and flinching that happened from time to time, especially at first as Kaede manhandled her unruly energy, but she stayed put. It wasn't super fun, but in a strange way it was kind of soothing, and afterwards, when all was said and done, she did feel a lot better and much calmer.

As Kaede took her hands away, Kagome teetered in place where she sat, nearly doing a face plant in Kaede's lap. The other woman put her hands on Kagome's shoulders and braced her, saying, "Easy there, ye might be a bit dizzy for a little while."

Kagome nodded, indeed feeling quite dizzy and woozy. So, instead of trying to get up, she leaned back, propping herself up against the convenient tree trunk behind her.

As she sat there waiting, they were interrupted by a young demon running into the clearing, shouting, "Kaede! Kaede! Totosai stopped by and wants to see you!"

"Oh dear. Kagome, I must take my leave for a moment. Ye just sit there and rest for a bit until I return."

Kagome nodded and the young demon ran off with Kaede in tow.

After a while, Kagome started feeling a little better, and tried standing. When that worked out fine, she decided to try the mantra, figuring Kaede wouldn't mind if she practiced a little in her absence. This time around Kagome found her power source easily, and with the mantra she easily summoned forth a nice glow around her, suggesting that the spell had worked. Giddy, Kagome tried again, getting the same results. It was much easier now that she had a smooth power line instead of a massive jumble of tangled crap to deal with.

She was interrupted and her concentration broke when she heard, "Hey Kagome, looks like you're getting the hang of that."

She jumped and spun to see Inuyasha leaning against a tree, watching her as she practiced.

She put her hand to her chest, breathing hard from the surprise and then scowled at him a little to scold him for sneaking up on her. He ignored her and trotted into the clearing, joining her in the center.

"So ya think you're ready to try transforming again? See if the spell works?"

Kagome glanced back towards where Kaede left and then gestured, putting her hand over one eye to say _"Kaede"_ and then pointed the way she went.

"Kaede's been helping you huh? Well, I'm sure she wouldn't mind you practicing with me. Come on, give it a shot."

After a moment of indecision, Kagome nodded and sat, working on trying to figure out how to transform. It took a very long time. Inuyasha reminded her to think really hard about what it had felt like to be a dog, and so she concentrated on the oddest sensations she remembered from it: her tail, her long muzzle, her paws. After a good few minutes of concentration she finally managed to do it, but again, it wasn't a smooth transition in the least. It stopped and started, getting stuck here and there for a moment, and was extremely painful as before. She keeled over to lie on her side, thrashing as she went through it, and then when it was finally all done she stayed put, lying on her side and panting.

As before, she was so focused on just surviving the experience that she didn't hear Inuyasha's colorful cursing, at least not until she was all finished with the transformation.

"Damn fucking hell…that was rough." He mumbled, and then added, "Looked like it hurt like a bitch." Inuyasha said, sounding sympathetic.

Kagome snorted, finding the summery to be a gross understatement.

She kept her eyes shut as she recovered, and so she didn't see Inuyasha come and sit down in front of her, but she did sure as heck noticed when she felt a hand gently rest on her ribcage. She jerked and her head popped up, as she looked down her furry flank. Inuyasha had his hand on her side, up close to her dog elbow, resting on her ribcage.

"You okay? You're breathing super fast and your heart is pounding."

Part of that was probably having him touch her so unexpectedly, but she wasn't going to try and explain that, not that she could in this body anyways, so she just nodded and let her head rest back against the ground. She twitched when his hand started lightly stroking her side, apparently feeling sorry enough for her to try and sooth her.

It was very odd. On the one hand, it felt incredibly nice and did sooth her, but on the other hand - or paw - it didn't exactly feel appropriate. But it felt nice enough that she didn't try to protest, glad that at least in this form she didn't have to worry about blushing.

After a while of her just resting and Inuyasha petting her side, he said, "Ya think you're ready to try shifting back?"

She grimaced, her muzzle curling up to bare her teeth in displeasure. She did not want to shift again…ever. It hurt too much and it was way too exhausting.

"Ya gotta do it sometime you know."

She heaved a sigh and felt his hand settle back down on her ribcage, giving her an encouraging pat. After some steadying breaths she gave it a shot, managing to summon the transformation a bit faster this time around, but struggling almost as badly through it. Inuyasha kept his hand on her, steadying her as she twitched and jerked, and giving her some gentle pats of encouragement as she went along. He was being shockingly patient and considerate today, but she wasn't about to complain.

Soon enough it was over and she was still lying on her side, human now, and his hand still rested high up on her ribs. The awkward thing about that, was that though her clothes did pop back into existence, they didn't actually pop back into place on her, instead, they sort of ended up draped _over_ her, and his hand was under them, resting against her bare skin.

She didn't really pay too much attention to that at first, given that she was a bit preoccupied with catching her breath and trying not to pass out, but after a few minutes she felt his fingers twitch against her skin which did call her attention to the situation. Cracking an eye, she looked down, noting the way he was looking at his hand disappearing under her draped tunic, a rather shocking flush getting brighter on his face as she watched. He seemed too shocked to move.

She could feel her own face burning in embarrassment, and also probably a little bit of excitement, and after a few frozen seconds she forced an awkward cough from her chest, which thankfully seemed to wake him up enough for him to yank his hand back.

She sat up, holding her clothes to her. When he didn't close or avert his eyes, she scowled and snapped her fingers to get his attention, then pointed at his eyes with two fingers before making a closing clam sort of gesture to ask him to close his eyes.

He jerked, seeming to realize that she needed to put her clothes on and turned his head away, closing his eyes shut tightly, muttering, "Right…sorry."

She very quickly put her clothes back on and then snapped her fingers again to get his attention.

"You dressed?"

She snapped her fingers once to say yes, and he cracked an eye open gingerly before opening both again.

"Well, that was better than last time at least. You're getting better."

Kagome nodded, smiling, pleased with herself despite the slight embarrassment that had happened. Over all, she felt that had been a great improvement.

"So, you wanna try again?"

Kagome glared and shook her head vigorously no.

"Okay! Okay, okay, calm down. Geez." He held his hands up to ward off her evil look. "You do know of course that the only way it's gonna get better is for you to practice though right?" He risked saying after a while.

She heaved a sigh and nodded, knowing he was right but just not up to it right now. So, instead they just hung out. They conversed, and at one point she pointed at his sword and then mimed the other weapons she had seen, then mimed claws and fangs, asking why they used weapons if they could just turn into such powerful demons.

"It's more civilized to use weapons. We ain't wolf-demons ya know. I dunno where you come from, but here, us dog-demons use weapons and transform only when we need to."

Kagome blinked, not having heard about wolf-demons before. She mouthed, _"wolf?"_

"You're not familiar with wolf-demons? You sure are lucky. Our pack and a pack of wolves have been at war for a long time now." After so-saying, he snorted, scowling fiercely and said, in a rather snotty voice, "They're uncivilized, and less powerful than us, so they're jealous. Hah! They can't even transform, they're either born in a wolf-form or a human-form. They're so weak they even have packs of normal wolves following them around. Annoying pests."

She got the feeling he was exaggerating a bit and doubted they were actually jealous. Probably they just didn't like each other.

After training so hard, and being so thoroughly thrashed by the shift, Kagome found herself desiring to return to Kaede's hut for a nap, or at least would have, except that she ended up falling asleep outside in the clearing instead. She was sitting next to Inuyasha and they were not really visiting at this point, so much as they were simply enjoying each other's company, leaning up against some tree trunks at the edge of the clearing. Kagome began to drift, feeling safe around Inuyasha and unconcerned about being out in the woods. Alone, she never would have been able to sleep, but with him there she found herself finding it hard to keep her eyes open.

Half-asleep, and a tiny bit chilly, she shifted sideways a tad, leaning up against him without really making the decision to do so. All she was aware of was that she found something warm and soft to rest against, which was much preferable to the pokey hard tree trunk behind her.

INUYASHA POV

Inuyasha kept finding himself surprised by just how easy it was to be around Kagome.

Maybe it was because she couldn't talk, but somehow he doubted it. She made herself pretty clear, and despite not being able to make a sound he knew exactly when she was pissed or happy, and her hand gestures had gotten so good he was able to understand what she was saying at least 80 percent of the time. So, he could easily picture her with a voice, and didn't find her any less pleasing as company. If anything, her sense of humor and fiery temper made her more amusing, if slightly aggravating at time.

She was fun, and super easy to be around. But more than that, there was something about her that put him at ease, in a way that no one else did. Even the others in his pack weren't as easy to be around. He still felt guarded around them, though he had eased up some over the years.

Before them, of course, he had been shunned and rejected, and even here he still felt judged, only finding relative peace with a very few individuals, and it wasn't a huge pack to begin with. Kaede, he felt pretty comfortable around, Sango, Shippō, and Miroku also were pretty comfortable. He always felt slightly tense around Kikyo, and couldn't tell if she judged him or didn't.

In the demon world a half-breed like him wasn't wanted, and the fact that he had even been accepted into a pack was a miracle in and of itself. When demons smelled that hint of mixed blood in him, they always wrinkled their nose and turned away, disgusted by him. This pack hadn't done that, they had accepted him as he was, but even so, he could still feel the stares, even after being here almost a year now. Only Kaede and the aforementioned three had seemed to grow perfectly comfortable with his abnormality, the others in the village always seemed a little on edge around him.

Never mind the fact that he was just as powerful as any of them, actually more so given the sheer amount of effort and training he had forced upon himself. It helped that his father had been such a powerful dog-demon; having a dominant demon-type blood meant that he had been able to claim himself as being a dog-demon, and had been able to achieve transformation status, a level of demon magic that not a lot of demons possessed.

He had just been relieved that his form was pure dog and didn't show any hints of whatever other blood he might have in him. The fact that he didn't even knew who his mother was, or _what_ she was, meant he literally had no clue what exactly _he_ was. For all he knew he might even have _beaver_ or some shit in him. That would have been humiliating, to transform only to have big buck teeth or something weird like that.

It was just lucky that even with the dilution of demon blood, he had inherited his father's strength and power, and a sword that seemed to only allow him to wield it, for whatever reason.

But even though he was extremely powerful, he was still looked down on by the demon community, and yet oddly feared as well. They always assumed that he had no power, since most half-breeds had blood that didn't mix well and ended up nullifying their powers. That was the half-breeds that survived; most half-breeds like him had been killed at birth.

But he had made a name for himself, mainly by kicking the ass of anyone who challenged him. The fact that he even could kick their ass terrified most demons, and so he had become slightly infamous, with the same status as a rabid dog, one that would rip your throat out and had no social graces or morality. That was actually pretty accurate when it came to the fancy demon societies in the large demon cities, where all the extravagant silks made his skin crawl and his nose curl with all the perfumes. He had no idea how they could stand it, their noses were as sensitive as his after all. He was like a bull in a China shop when it came to fancy parties and get-togethers, since he almost always ended up starting a brawl right in the middle of it, usually destroying the building and surrounding scenery while he was at it.

When he thought about it, it made sense why he had never gotten along with the high society elites.

But all of that meant that he was always guarded, always expecting to be judged or shunned, and had grown an exceptionally thick shell because of it, typically only showing distain, aggravation, impatience, and a desire to only look after himself, an attitude that kept most from befriending him. Even the four people he liked didn't find him overly friendly.

Yet this woman kept bringing out his softer side, and he found himself wanting to take care of her, comforting her, being nice to her, being patient around her, and helping her in any way he could. He still had all those other qualities, and often snapped at her, yet she never seemed to mind, outside of snapping right back. He had never met someone who had no judgement in their eyes, who looked straight at him and didn't look away in either fear or distain. She always looked him right in the eyes, with either a genuine smile or a genuine scowl, none of this wishy-washy pretend shit. She never pretended. Even though he knew she was hiding some intense crap, especially keeping up a certain mystery around that whole contract she had signed, she never tried to lie, she just wouldn't answer. He liked that.

And, she seemed to actually like being around him. She always smiled when she saw him, she never grimaced or frowned or flinched. That was a novel experience for him. He'd never spent any amount of time around someone who actually appeared to enjoy his company.

Even Kikyo, who he suspected liked him as more than a friend - although she didn't necessarily treat him like a friend either - didn't seem to genuinely appreciate his company. She was always gently scolding him for something, usually suggesting he be more polite. Kagome on the other hand generally seemed fine with it, but if she thought he was being rude she would just smack him, again, not pretending but just being strait forward and miming for him to cut it out. He much preferred the way she went about it, instead of all the twisted going around that Kikyo did when she tried to say shit.

Caught up in his pondering, he didn't realize at first that the woman he was thinking about so hard was actually falling asleep, at least not until she plopped up against his side and nuzzled into his shoulder. He jumped, not expecting the sudden contact, and looked over to see her snuggled into his side, her eyes closed and a small contented smile on her lips. She was asleep, as far as he could tell, and he stared down at her with wide eyes, wondering what the hell was wrong with her. Who in their right mind would want to cuddle up to him of all people?

That was one thing about her that never ceased to surprise him, her sheer innocence. Despite having all the markers of being a full-blooded demon, she didn't seem to know jack shit about anything, which was one of the reasons he was so curious about her. He still hadn't given up on the hope that somehow, some way, she was the same human girl that had cared for him when he had been injured. It made no sense, and yet every clue pointed towards that.

He cocked his head, watching her as she slept, wondering why she had come to be in his life. It had been so sudden, so unexpected, and yet here she was, like some sort of fluffy lost duckling. She was so sweet, despite having such a nasty temper, he doubted she would ever actually hurt a fly. It was so unlikely that she had gravitated towards him, her seemingly polar opposite. If she was a duckling with an attitude, he was a mangy dog with a much worse attitude. He pretty much bit anything that came close enough, picking fights left and right and always seeming to somehow destroy his environment.

People tended to think he was dumb and impulsive because of that, which was partly true. He was extremely impulsive, in the sense that he tended to trust and follow his instincts, maybe even more than a full-blooded demon, which he had always thought was pretty funny. However, he wasn't dumb, not by a long shot. He played dumb sometimes, used to the role of stupid, clumsy, uncontrolled half-breed. And because he did trust his instincts so much, he tended to bypass social niceties and call it as it was, throwing politics out the window. In that sense he was dumb, because the subtleties of politically correct behavior and social graces were completely lost on him. If someone was bullshitting, he knew it, and said so. End of story.

Which was why he liked Kagome so much. She was also straightforward, and though she apparently knew how to play the game, being nice and polite even when she didn't want to, it appeared that she didn't do it unless she had to. Of course when she tried, she pretty much failed. He had seen her trying to be polite to Kikyo, and if he hadn't been so irritable he probably would have laughed at how see-through her wobbly smile had been.

She was so cute, and he found himself smiling fondly down at her, an expression that felt quite foreign on his face. He had never felt this way before. There were some things he recognized. He liked Kikyo; he liked her a lot, and had even considered her as a potential mate. But ultimately they were incompatible, and when she had suggested some rituals to purify his blood and make him closer to a full demon, every alarm had rung inside him. At the time, he had actually considered it, since she had really been the only option, but even then he had been alarmed. She had wanted to change him, instead of accepting him the way he was.

Kagome on the other hand…she didn't do that.

He recognized the feelings of attraction, the feelings of liking her and wanting to be more than friends, and that was about it. Everything beyond that was new and curious and slightly unnerving.

He had never wanted to be around someone so much. In fact, before Kagome, he had tended to avoid, rather than seek out socialization of any kind. He was a loner, which was why he was the scout, but now, all he wanted to do was be around her. In fact he couldn't stop himself from following her around, even if she didn't know he was there. It was creepy behavior, and it even creeped him out, but he couldn't really help it.

All these new protective feelings, all the new urges and desires to keep her safe and happy made him slightly dizzy, and he didn't really know what to do with them all. They were novel, and so they were interesting, but he wasn't sure he liked them. In fact, he occasionally grew mad at Kagome for making him feel so funny, which was usually when he was particularly snappy towards her.

Her snuggling into him had thrown him for a loop, and all those weird fluffy feelings had his whole chest feeling warm and fuzzy, making him feel like a stupid puppy. Except, he was a stupid happy puppy, so it wasn't so bad. Yet at the same time, it made his heart pound, and some not so puppy-like thoughts crossed his mind as he absorbed the feel of her breasts push into his arm, and her head nuzzled against him until it was comfortable, which ended up putting her mouth in such a way that he could feel warm moist puffs of breath against the skin of his neck.

He was fascinated by a few long tendrils of her silky black hair that had slipped over his shoulder and now draped down his chest. Eyeballing her for a minute, he risked lightly fondling one strand of hair, curling it around his finger and testing the softness with his thumb. It was so soft, and smelled so sweet he knew, from the scent of her head nearly right under his nose. He could imagine burying his face in her hair, maybe as he kissed her neck, maybe nipping a little. He wondered absentmindedly what she would do if he nipped her. Would she yelp? Would she be surprised? She had been so surprised about everything demon related so far, he wouldn't be surprised if she was unaware of demon love making and the tendency to use teeth.

All those thoughts had his blood heating and a slight issue arising in his lap, making him shift uncomfortable to try and dissuade the boner from taking up his mental capacity. He shook his head, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. He had never fantasized about Kikyo before. Sure he had maybe thought about kissing her or something, but she had always been so unapproachable that it hadn't ever gone beyond that, and certainly hadn't ever given him a hard on. Yet another way Kagome was different. He had imagined fucking pretty demon girls before, and had gotten excited from that, but hadn't ever gotten aroused from something as simple as wondering if a girl would be shocked by him biting them.

As usual, he found himself at a loss when it came to Kagome, and he wondered if maybe he should disengage himself from her snuggle, since he felt slightly bad about having such dirty thoughts about her while she was so trustingly sleeping. But those thoughts flew right out of his head when she shifted, burying her head into his shoulder and whimpered, her whole body tensing as she seemed to start to have a bad dream. He was utterly blown away by the sudden need to comfort her, and having no will power strong enough to refuse the instinct even if he had wanted to, he awkwardly patted her head. It was a really weak attempt at comfort, but surprisingly she responded, quieting and nuzzling her head up into his palm.

He blinked down at her, once again bewildered, and somehow found himself petting her head, gently stroking her ears and hair, amazed by the fuzzy softness and silky softness combined. This was new. He hadn't ever touched anyone else's ears…after all that was a big no-no.

Ears were super sensitive, he knew that very well, and they could be a shockingly intense erogenous zone for demons, so you DID NOT mess with anyone's ears, unless you wanted to be killed or fucked. Yet, he knew that petting them was soothing, or could be if done in the right way by the right person, and he was utterly dumbfounded to find out that Kagome responded in such a way to him. Again, she probably had no idea about any of this, but it still said a great deal.

He restrained himself, the curiosity and eagerness building within him to try and play with them in other ways, but he stuck to just petting her in the most calming way he knew how. And she seemed to like it.

After a while she settled down and by that point he had managed to get himself sleepy somehow, finding the petting strangely soothing as well. And so he allowed himself to doze as well.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hiya~

Yay! It looks like Kagome is finally getting the hang of this dog-demon thing. And double yay, it looks like Inuyasha is starting to get with the picture. Will he figure it out in time though? That is the question. ;D

I hope everyone enjoyed this new chapter. I'll give you one guess as to who the other enemy will be in this story. Cookies to anyone who correctly figures it out. :D

As always, a big fuzzy warm hug to all my wonderful reviewers. You guys keep me writing, never forget that. :3


	8. Chapter 8

Kagome would have thought that sleeping together would have made things awkward between them. She had certainly been embarrassed about finding them slumped down, apparently actually lying down at some point, with her head ending up on his chest and her arm wrapped around his middle, while her leg wrapped around his thigh. She was just glad that she was the first one to wake up and disengage, because if he had realized the position they were in, she was sure he would think she was a slut. Honestly though, she wondered if he even would think that. The boys back home certainly would have, but he was so different, maybe it wouldn't have bothered him at all.

Even so, she had found it embarrassing, and returned to Kaede's hut with her face feeling permanently stained red. Kaede, had been most persistent about asking what had happened, but hadn't gotten much out of her, and eventually gave up.

And so, given the perceived awkwardness, she was shocked that he showed up the next day, bright and early, with the offer to take her fishing. Despite the temporary surprise, she was eager to go, having always wanted to try something like that. The little stream by her cave had been small and only possessed small fish. She wanted to see some big fish. So, after shooing him out to wait for her to change out of her sleeping yukata, she hustled to put on a slightly more activity-oriented outfit Sango had offered her, wearing a nice simple yukata that had a kosode underneath. She forwent the hakama, feeling like pants would get in her way today, and her yukata went down to her ankles so it wasn't necessary.

She was glad the hem was wide enough to allow a brisk trot, because Inuyasha set a swift pace through the woods once she joined him. It wasn't too long before she could hear running water, and as they emerged on a wide flowing river she gasped, amazed. The middle was deep, but on either side were wide shallow banks where the water was clear and shallow enough to wade in, perfect for fishing. Inuyasha wasted no time getting in, only bothering to take off his fire rat robe beforehand and hanging it in a nearby tree first. He also rolled up his pants legs to above his knees. Then he was striding into the water.

Kagome watched, utterly fascinated as he took a stance, seeming to freeze in place as he waited. She could see shimmering fish in the water, and she watched as he waited until one was between his widespread waiting hands before lunging, almost faster than she could see. He came out of the water holding a big silver fish in his claws. He growled at it as it flip flopped with shocking violence and then he threw it high up onto the bank where it had no hope of getting back to water.

The next fish he caught was bigger, and he didn't have quite as good a grip on it because it managed to slip free and fish-slapped him in the face. He sputtered, shaking his now damp bangs, his ears twitching drops of water off them. Kagome found herself giggling helplessly, and somehow he must have heard the strange fast exhales because he glanced over to see her laughing.

He scowled. "What?! Think you can do better? How about you come over here and try?"

She snorted, eventually settling down. He had already huffed with a distinctly, "huh" sort of sound, and had refocused on the task at hand. Thinking about it, she decided that she did in fact want to learn, even though the offer had been a fussy complaint. So she stood and pulled up her skirts, tying them in front of her around thigh height, which was a bit indecent, but she didn't want to get her hem wet. Her movement had gotten his attention, and when she looked up from tying the knot in front of her legs, she caught him staring at her with wide eyes.

"Uh…Kagome? What're you doing?"

She shrugged and waded into the water, coming to stand in front of him, looking at him expectantly. Sure enough, after a second of confusion he figured out what was going on, and he blinked, his eyebrows rising. "Wha-You really wanna learn?"

She nodded.

"And you want me to teach you?"

She nodded again.

He blinked some more and then shrugged. "Okay, this'll be interesting." Then he started showing her how to do it, starting with, "Turn around. You wanna face the current, cause that's usually gonna be the way the fish are coming. Now, sorta bend at the waist and put your hands in the water. Get comfortable cause your gonna be holding that position for a while."

Kagome followed his instructions, standing with her legs spread for balance and bending over enough to get her hands into the water. She was glad she hadn't tied her skirt too high, because she could feel it crawling up the backs of her legs a little.

"Try bending your knees, just a little, so you'll be ready to move when you gotta."

She gently flexed her knees, trying not to disturb the water too much since there were a few sizable fish already circling. She watched them, feeling her ears tilt all the way forward on her head to pick up the subtle splish-splashy noises. A smallish one got between her hands, and she lunged, trying to grab it. She failed. It escaped between her legs. The next one she tried to nab too soon, and it skittered off before she could grab it.

With a sigh, Inuyasha grumbled, "Here, I'll help you catch one and then you try by yourself."

She didn't know what that meant, and froze with shock when she felt him approach behind her. He was so close that she could feel his body heat, and she started standing up, about to gesture wildly to ask what the hell he was doing.

"Stay still!" He huffed, a hand landing between her shoulder blades and keeping her from moving, and then she felt abrupt warmth as his chest came down to lay over her back. He kept an inch or less between their bodies, she couldn't actually feel him touching her, but she could feel his white kosode brushing her back through her yukata and knew if she moved even a tiny bit the wrong way he would be pressed right up against her. And they were in such a compromising position that she would be feeling quite a bit of him. So she froze, sucking in her breath and squeezing her eyes closed, trying hard not to tremble. She did jerk when she felt his hands touch hers, his palms to the backs of her hands, and that little jerk had her bumping against him, feeling firmness and warmth against her back. She was grateful for the bunching up of fabric on both of them that helped to mask the feel of his body against hers, but she still gasped.

"Stop moving! You're scaring the fish." He scolded, his voice right in her ear and his breath puffing on her neck.

She froze again, mouthing, _"sorry"_ as best she could, given her slightly frantic breathing. He paused and then suddenly pressed closer, putting his face right next to hers and making her tense every muscle in her body as his front pressed against her back.

She was distracted when he said, "Hey, did you say something?"

Blinking she turned her head ever so slightly in his direction, a spark of excitement in her gut. She mouthed, _"yeah, I said sorry,"_ and tried her best to whisper it as well, though it was made difficult because her tongue was so uncooperative. It came out more like, "eah, a haie ah wah horree." Her consonants were the absolute worst to try and wrap her tongue around, but she managed something that had some very slight sound to it. It just wasn't very comprehensible.

"Wow, I actually heard that, couldn't really understand a word of it…"

She breathed, _"stupid,"_ finding him both funny and amazingly aggravating at the same time. It didn't help that the only way she could actually _say_ it, was to say something closer to, "shpoopiii-nd." It was the D that was tough, and T's, so she turned the T's into P's and then closed her mouth almost into an N to try to get the D with her mouth instead of her tongue. It sounded dumb, and she suddenly felt Inuyasha convulsing against her. It took her a second to realize he was shaking silently in laughter.

"Did you just call me stupid?" He sputtered.

She breathed, _"Yeah,"_ which she found she could actually get out relatively unmangled.

He snickered some more and then settled down again, this time not bothering to try and put that inch distance between them. Instead, he almost seemed to cuddle up against her and said, "I like this. It's cool that I can sort of hear you talk. So I guess there's something wrong with your tongue along with your voice box? Sounds like your speech is all slurred and stuff."

She nodded.

That was thankfully the end of the conversation, because although Kagome felt like she might pop from happiness, she was also getting overstimulated with him pressed up against her like this. She was getting way too excited, and felt her heart pounding hard in her chest, her face already flushed, and tension settling deep in her belly.

Too much more of this and she could forget fishing, she wouldn't be able to catch one if it came up and blew bubbles in her face. So, wrangling herself together, she focused on the fish swimming around them. As one approached her hands twitched and Inuyasha said, "Wait…" speaking very softly in her ear.

She waited, and the skittish fish soon approached again. Inuyasha said "…wait…." again to remind her, and she stayed put, doing exactly as he said and waiting for him to tell her when.

He didn't tell her so much as show her, his hands flexing and thrusting hers together to catch the fish when it was right there between them. She paid close attention, noting how long he waited. The fish struggled between their hands and she squirmed as well, shocked and sort of disgusted by the slimy feel of it. She recoiled against him, pressing back into his body as she fought the fish, wanting to drop it from the surprise of the way it felt. Inuyasha didn't let her drop it though, and he pulled them both upright, by her hands, where he plucked it free and tossed it onto the bank. Then he busted out laughing as she hurried to wipe her hands off on her skirt.

"Is that why you were wiggling around as much as the fucking fish? It felt gross?"

She shot him a glare over her shoulder, which only made him snicker more.

"You gonna give up now?"

She furiously shook her head and turned back around, getting back into position. Her competitive nature had been aroused, and now she wanted to prove that she could do this all by herself. He stepped back, saying, "Sure, Kagome, let's see if you've got it in ya to nab one yourself."

He was so taunting that it only made her want to get one even more, and she felt a silent growl rumble from her chest.

She stayed put, focused and waiting, watching all the fish and itching to nab one. Then she saw a massive one coming, and nearly chickened out. It was a bit daunting, and the ugly maw opened and closed, seeming to taunt her as if it knew she was afraid. She gulped, and then her brow set in a fierce scowl as she dared it to come closer. Suddenly she wanted to impress Inuyasha and grab this monster of a fish. She didn't even notice her body shift even lower into a crouch, truly hunting now, and her eyes locked onto her target, not paying any attention to the little fish swimming freely around her.

"Uh…Kagome? What're you doin? You got fish everywhere, just grab one." When he got no response he added, "Kagome? Hello? You still…wait…you're not seriously thinking about…there's no way you're gonna catch that thing!" He protested as he finally saw what she was so focused on.

She ignored him as thoroughly as all the other fish. She just kept her eyes on that big one, and it slowly lumbered closer, probably attracted by all the small fish nibbling on the dry skin of her hands and feet. This bad boy looked like it probably could eat these minnows for lunch, and she urged it closer, thinking, _that's right, come and eat the tasty little fish, nothing to be afraid of, just some weird white stubs, don't mind me_.

She waited patiently, until finally it was close enough for her to grab, and then she lunged. She managed to snag it and lift it out of the water, but the damn thing was massive, and enormously strong, tossing her backwards as it bucked in her grip. This thing was not just slimy, it was spiky too, and it hurt her hands to hold it, but she gritted her teeth and grabbed on, her claws digging into the flesh. She wanted to cringe at the sensation, but she was too busy not being tossed into the stream herself to waste time on that. Its tail slapped her around the head and neck, and she staggered back into Inuyasha, knocking them both over. Before it could escape though, she heaved it with all her might, throwing it onto the bank far enough that it couldn't get back into the water.

Inuyasha went fully into the water, and Kagome followed. They floundered around for a moment, getting soaked in the process, and then finally righted themselves, water streaming from their hair and clothes. She grinned at a slightly sulky Inuyasha, and after a second he smirked, his eyes sparkling a little as he said, "Well, that wasn't half bad. For your first attempt."

She play-scowled, and swatted at him, feeling that he could do better. But she knew that, in his own way, he was saying that he was actually really impressed.

He scowled right back at her, but she could see amusement in his eyes as he griped, "Though, dunking me in the water wasn't a part of the plan."

She mouthed, _"sorry"_ and he huffed, scoffing and saying, "Heh, whatever, clumsy woman."

She snorted, rolling her eyes at the way he was being all gruff after giving her a compliment. Typical male pride at work. Normally she would be slightly pissed at his attitude, but at the moment she was too proud of her newfound fishing skills to be brought down in the slightest, so she just grinned at him and flounced out of the river, squeezing water out of her hair as she went. Once she was on the bank, she had the oddest urge, her wet clothes sticking to her and making her super uncomfortable. Without really thinking about it she shook, just like a dog. Starting at the top she shook her head and then her shoulders and then down her whole body. It was like a violent shiver that worked its way down her body, flinging droplets of water every which way.

INUYASHA POV

Yes, he was pissed about taking such an unplanned bath, but he found it difficult to stay mad at Kagome, especially when she turned to give him such a brilliant smile. Struck by the sudden, unfiltered giddy grin, his anger all but washed away, leaving him feeling slightly tipsy. It was always this way with her, all her reactions so different, so honest, that he didn't really know how to react to them.

So, being him, he reacted by being rude.

Surprisingly she didn't seem perturbed by him, though normally he knew she would be scowling at him and probably scolding him too with her mimes, instead she just continued to grin, and then turned and strutted back to the river bank. He blinked, his ears swiveling and his head cocking in confusion. Then his eyes zoomed into her rear, which was swaying from side to side in a highly distracting manner, and his eyebrows raised in stunned attention.

It didn't help at all when she shook all the water off her, the movement only managing to look sensual on her instead of awkward and silly like it had on everyone else he had seen do it.

KAGOME POV

It had come so naturally that she barely even noticed that she had shaken like a dog, and continued further up the bank to her catch, admiring her still flip-flopping fish. It truly was massive, and she grabbed it by the tail, dragging it even further up the bank to make sure it had no chance of escape. She wasn't sure how to kill it, so she decided to wait until Inuyasha was done drying off to show her how. She wasn't overly inclined to try and fail, not wanting it to suffer more than necessary.

So she turned and was about to try and get his attention, when she became utterly distracted. Inuyasha had gone a slightly different route to drying off, and when she turned she froze to see him stripping off his kosode. He had already taken off his red fire rat robe earlier, so now his bare chest was showing. She had seen it once before of course, but he had been covered in wounds then.

The memory of the blood, bones, and gore, had her flinching and unconsciously draw closer as she looked more intently at his skin. He was somehow completely healed. She knew from personal experience that these demon bodies healed insanely fast, but it had only been a couple of weeks since he had basically had his intestines falling out of his stomach, and now there wasn't a scratch on him. Without even being aware of moving, she was standing in front of him, staring intently and he froze in the process of taking off his wet shirt, not sure what the hell she was doing. She, however, didn't really notice his reaction, as she was too focused on his skin.

It was perfect, only a few light scars marking the spots that had been truly horrific. She could see the pale mark where there had been the large gutting wound on his stomach and another one on his shoulder where his arm had nearly been torn off along with half his chest it seemed. The flesh was smooth, not even rough over the barely-there scars that she could tell, and disbelieving, her hand reached out all on its own to test that he was truly as whole as he seemed.

Images of his gut gaping open were hovering in her vision and her fingers unerringly found the flesh that she had tucked back into place, her eyes tight as she remembered vividly the sensation of his organs as she had so gingerly poked them back within him, the feeling of his blood coating her hands so suddenly fresh that she winced. She remembered every deep wound carved into his body, and her fingertips went from tracing the visible scars to touching the non-visible scars, amazed and utterly stunned by the fact that nothing showed where such deep wounds had existed. A scratch that had exposed his ribs didn't even show the slightest mark now; it was as if those few days had never even existed. If it weren't for the few pale scars, she would have thought that she had imagined it all. She hadn't even seen the scars until she was close to him, and even from there most people wouldn't have seen them at all, but of course she had known exactly where to look.

She was so stunned that she didn't even realize how inappropriate her actions were, how she was touching him without his permission. She was too absorbed to realize what she was doing at first, but when a hand reached up and wrapped around her wrist she froze, and then jerked back, sure as heck comprehending what she was doing now. She flushed, and pulled away, immediately putting as much distance between her and Inuyasha as possible, but she was yanked to a halt when he didn't release her wrist and she reached the maximum extension of her arm.

She refused to look up and meet his eyes, too embarrassed and shocked at her own actions to be able to look into his eyes

"Kagome…" He started, tugging on her hand to get her attention. When she still refused to meet his eyes, he growled. "Kagome, look at me dammit!"

She flinched and looked up, eyeing a little off to the side and mouthed, _"sorry_."

He made his "Huh!" sound, and then continued after the frustrated huff, "…You really are her, aren't you?"

Her eyes snapped to his, staring at him wide-eyed as she realized that she had given herself away. On the one hand, she had wanted him to know, but on the other hand he surely would figure out she was human now, and that could be very, very bad. Would he accept her? Would he kick her out of the pack now? Had everything been ruined just because of a stupid mistake?

He scowled, not angrily but more in confusion. "Why the heck do ya look so freakin' scared?"

She just bit her lip, not mouthing or gesturing, waiting for his response.

He cocked his head, making a face. "Well? Are you the girl who dragged me into that cave near the wall and patched me up a couple of weeks ago or not?"

She flinched, chewing on her lip now and looking away again, trying to decide whether to confirm it or not. But in the end she resolved to go ahead and come clean, especially when Inuyasha started getting impatient and growled at her. Hesitantly she nodded her head, tasting blood when her chewing broke the skin of her lip.

"I knew it." He said, his voice lowered almost as if he was talking to himself, and he released her wrist when she tugged on it.

She gulped, waiting to see what would happen now.

After a long moment of silence, she chanced a peek at him, to see him looking at her with deep fascination. He didn't seem pissed, much to her relief, but he did seem nonplussed, as if he couldn't figure her out.

INUYASHA POV

He couldn't decide what to think. He was absolutely positive that the scent in the cave had been human, but he was just as sure that it had been her scent. Not to mention that she had been dragged behind the wall, a place only humans went. Yet now she was undeniably a demon. So what was she then? Was she a human posing as a demon somehow, or was she a demon who had been posing as a human for some reason when he had first seen and smelled her? She was a conundrum wrapped in an enigma, and it made his head hurt.

To be honest, at this point he didn't really give a fuck what she was, he was more interested in the fact that she had just confirmed that she was in fact the girl he had been looking for. And suddenly all sorts of questions popped into his head and then from his mouth, his brain-to-mouth filter always relatively nonexistence but particularly so at the moment.

"Why did you save me?" was the first question to emerge.

She blinked, looking like she hadn't expected him to ask that. Her fangs released her poor abused lower lip and she started to mouth something before stopping, frowning as if trying to figure out how to explain. She haltingly gestured towards her eyes and then pointed at him, miming that she had seen him, and then lightly dragged her claws across her front. He understood that she meant she had come across him all torn up. Sure, that made sense, but it wasn't really what he was asking.

"Okay, yeah, so you saw me all beaten up, but you didn't know me, so why help? I mean, I'm a half-breed, a pure-blooded demon like you should have turned away." He decided to go with what she was now. She was a demon for a reason, and whether she was human or not didn't make a lick of difference to him.

She cocked her head, looking surprised and mouthed, _"you are?"_

It was his turn to be shocked. She didn't know? Any demon worth their salt would have known he was only a half-breed, knowing what that mixed up scent meant, but of course, as usual she didn't seem to know jack. He shook his head, exasperated. "Either you are the dumbest demon I have ever met, or you're not a demon at all, but whatever." He grumbled. "Still, you didn't know me, so why bother to help?"

She shrugged, miming his injuries again.

He tsked and then huffed. "Heh, you are the weirdest person I have ever met, Kagome."

She scowled and pointed at him, shaking her finger as she proceeded to give him a silent lecture. He didn't understand half of what she was mouthing, since her lips were going so fast, but he caught the occasional word like _"ungrateful"_ and _"what's wrong with"_ and the like. He figured she was probably scolding him for wondering why someone would want to help someone else in need, but despite knowing a lot of people that preached things like that, he only knew a few people who would go out of their way so far to actually help a stranger. Even his friends probably wouldn't have done as much for a stranger as she had. Sure, they would have at least patched him up and gotten him to safety, but he knew she had stayed with him for several days, feeding him, giving him water, and talking and even singing to him.

She was the nicest person he knew, and he was shocked by the realization of just how kind she was. Still, he suspected there was more to it than simple good Samaritanism. He knew she was probably the one who had followed him for a while before the incident, so there was something she wasn't telling him. Why had she been so interested in the first place?

Huffing exasperatedly, he figured he wasn't going to get any more answers out of her though, it would be too difficult for her to tell him without a voice.

He didn't know what to think anymore. The surge of emotion he felt at finally having his suspicion confirmed shocked him, and he didn't know what to do with it. He was unexpectedly happy, happier than he had ever remembered. The fact that this girl had been the one to care for him, that Kagome was the same person who had been so unconditionally kind to him for no reason whatsoever, warmed him to the very core, and he found himself feeling light and floaty. He wasn't really sure he liked it.

It was weird, new, unexpected, and he abruptly grew unsure about it all. He had never felt this way before, never felt so close to someone, or so happy to be around them. He had already known that weird things were happening when it came to Kagome, feeling funny whenever he was around her, but now it was ten times worse, and it freaked him out.

He liked a certain amount of emotional distance, which was why he had been keeping Kikyo at a distance even though he had liked her, but with Kagome … she had snuck by all his barriers without him even realizing it, and now she was wedged so deep that he had no hope of keeping her at a distance.

Tensing, he cleared his throat, looking away. It was time to get some much needed distance from this strange woman. He didn't like being out of control, in any way, and this out of control emotional turmoil was not something he was comfortable with in the least. In fact, it was downright terrifying, and the fear only pissed him off.

KAGOME POV

She jerked when he gruffly rasped, "Whatever, let's get these fish back to Kaede, I've got better things to do."

Flinching, she watched wide-eyed as he gathered up the fish and began hauling them back in the direction of the village, his shoulders tight and tensed up. He snagged his red coat from the tree on the way out and she hustled after him, realizing she was going to be left behind if she didn't get the lead out.

Reaching Kaede's hut, he dropped off the fish and then turned and abruptly left without a word, leaving her to stare forlornly after him. She scowled, letting a little irritation cover the hurt that she felt at his abandonment. What had just happened? At first he had seemed okay about her being the one who had helped him, but now it seemed he was pissed at her. What had caused the abrupt mood change? Did he put two and two together and finally figure out the truth? He had said as much, but still seemed to not be sure whether she was demon or not, and hadn't bothered to ask. That was one of the things that had surprised her most about his line of questioning. Maybe he just hadn't been able to fit the puzzle together?

Whatever the case, she was unable to figure out what he was thinking, and so she was forced to retreat into the hut and help Kaede clean the fish, distracted the entire time. Kaede naturally noticed something was wrong and began questioning Kagome, beginning with why she was so wet, which Kagome explained by miming that she fell in the river. That however, didn't explain why she was picking at the scales of her fish one by one with a deep scowl etched into her brow. So she started asking questions, one after the other, essentially fishing for information when Kagome didn't answer any of them.

"Child, why are ye so forlorn looking?"

Nothing.

"Ye are but picking at the scales, what is the matter?"

Still nothing.

"Kagome? Are ye alright?"

Nada.

"Did Inuyasha do something to upset you?"

At the mention of Inuyasha, Kagome finally responded, but unintentionally, with a grimace. Kaede saw, of course, and obviously realized that she had hit upon something, because her line of questions immediately changed.

"Did he do something inappropriate?"

Kagome did have to shake her head, not wanting him to get in trouble, but her scowl only deepened, thinking that was the exact opposite of her problem now; she _wished_ he had done something inappropriate. She could only hope he would get over his unexplained funk quickly.

Kaede eventually realized she wasn't going to get too much out of her at the moment and instead suggested that Kagome invite Inuyasha for dinner. The little that she had managed to get suggested that the boy was avoiding Kagome for some unknown reason, and that Kagome was depressed about this fact.

The idea to invite Inuyasha for dinner was a good one, because Kagome had quickly found out that he liked to eat, and hopefully that might persuade him to forgive her. So, she set out to try and find him, but after a good deal of searching she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him in any of the trees, streets, or fields nearby, and so she was forced to return empty handed and more frustrated than before.

* * *

Author' Note:

Hello everyone! Welcome to yet another new chapter, yay!

I hope everyone enjoyed the fluff and fish-fun. So, Inuyasha had finally figured out that Kagome is 'the one' - which I know isn't truly sticking with the Little Mermaid story, but it'll still stay pretty close.

So who wants to bet how long it takes Inuyasha to get himself together, and what (or who) prompts him to finally face his feelings? Also, who wants to guess which character shows up next? :3

As always, a big cuddly thanks to everyone who had taken the time to review this story so far...you guys are absolutely amazing.


	9. Chapter 9

This new avoidance trend of Inuyasha's continued on for the next few days, and every day that Kagome didn't see him increased her worry, frustration, and sadness exponentially.

It had already been a full week and she only had two left before bad things happened, and his avoidance wasn't helping her goal to get him to fall in love with her. The only thing she could figure was that the truth had freaked him out, and now he didn't want anything to do with her, a prospect that had her wanting to throw up and cry and wallow in her misery. She went between being pissed at him for ditching her without any explanation and being hurt.

It was one of the times when she was feeling particularly sad that she decided to revisit the river, finding her way a bit haphazardly but eventually making it to the spot where they had gone fishing a few days prior. She perched herself on a sun warmed stone and looked out over the sparkling clear water, letting herself be soothed by the sound of it. It was peaceful, and beautiful, and did help to distract her for a short time, but soon enough she felt the fears and sadness return little by little, like a cloud covering the sun and making it dim. She was frightened now, she had already spent a third of her time, and if Inuyasha truly wanted nothing to do with her anymore, then she was done for.

Overwhelmed by sadness and anxiety she found herself beginning to tear up, and she was helpless to stop her eyes from producing the salty liquid. So, she stared miserably out at the water and let herself cry, not having anything better to do anyways.

She was distracted from her despondent state by a small voice saying, "Uh, miss are you crying?"

She sniffed and looked down to see an adorable little child demon with tawny hair and a fluffy orange tail sticking out from his rear. She blinked, not entirely sure what sort of demon he was, but finding him adorable nonetheless.

She wiped her eyes and attempted a smile.

"Oh! You're that new girl, the one who can't talk right?"

She nodded.

"I'm Shippō!" He said proudly, puffing up his little chest.

She sniffled and cracked a more honest smile, finding him super adorable.

"You're name is Kagome right?!" When she nodded he grinned. "Yeah, you're Inuyasha's new friend, he's been talking a lot about you lately."

She mouthed, _"you know Inuyasha?"_ and then _"talking about me?"_ accompanied with her pointing at herself.

The little demon kid looked at her intently, obviously trying to figure out what she said. "Uh…yeah….Inuyasha? The white haired guy?" Then he figured out the second part easily enough with the accompanying gesture. "Oh yeah, he's been talking…well not really talking so much as mumbling to himself, and I hear him say your name a lot. I have no idea what he's saying exactly."

She wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing, therefore she didn't know whether to be hopeful or worried. So she just did both at the same time, which felt pretty odd. Her sore lip ended up between her teeth, for the millionth time it felt, and she worried it absentmindedly.

"Hey! Kagome, you're bleeding!" The kid yelped, jumping up and down and then hopping on her lap, his tiny hand landing on her chin and tugging to try and get her to stop.

She blinked, a bit shocked by the sudden unexpected touch, but let her lip go nonetheless, touched by his concern. He stared at the lip seriously with a deep scowl on his forehead.

"You should really stop that, your fangs have torn your lip to shreds."

She winced and reached up to touch her mouth, realizing that he was right. Her bottom lip did feel pretty rough with some loose skin here and there, and when she pulled her fingers away she saw a bit of smeared red decorating her fingertips. Yep, she had done a number on herself without even realizing it. Darn.

She grimaced, her tongue automatically running over the cut up skin and then she made a face and spat, not liking the taste of her blood when she actually paid attention to it.

The kid had his arms crossed and was nodding his head seriously, and she could feel his tiny foot tapping on her thigh. Fascinated, she looked down to see that he had paws instead of feet and she lightly touched one of his furry toes. He jumped and squeaked looking down.

"Hey watch it, that tickles!" He protested, giggling at the gentle touch.

She drew her hand back, mouthing, _"sorry"_ and then cocked her head, and pointed at her ears and then his normal but pointed ones, silently asking why he looked different. She added in a gesture at his feet and tail for good measure.

It took a few seconds but then his eyes brightened as he figured it out. "Oh! Why am I different?" He puffed his chest out proudly. "Because I'm a noble fox demon!"

Kagome couldn't help but smile, he was just too cute.

The kid smiled back, enchanted by the pretty kind lady. After a cheesy moment he cleared his throat. "So…why were you crying?"

She frowned, looking away.

"Is it that stupid Inuyasha? He can do some pretty dumb things."

She had to give it to him, for being so young, Shippō was pretty sharp. Heaving a sigh she nodded and then put her hand over her eyes like she was shielding them from the sun and then looked around, miming searching.

Shippō watched intently. "You're…You've been looking for something?...Oh, you've been trying to find Inuyasha?"

With a nod she switched to a shrugging motion and a helpless shaking of her head.

"You can't find him?"

She made a face and wobbled her hand in an _"almost/sort of_ " motion and then mouthed _"avoiding"_ to try and clear it up. She had to try again a few times while he watched her mouth, not used to this form of communication. After a few tries he finally got it though.

"Oh! Avoiding? He's been avoiding you?" At her nod he huffed angrily. "That dumb Inuyasha! Why would he want to avoid you? You're so nice!"

She smiled and patted him on the head affectionately, mouthing _"thank you."_

He grinned and blushed, happy at the attention. He could already see himself getting super attached to this woman. All the other ladies in the village were either too serious, like Sango, or outright shunned him a tad for being a fox demon in a dog demon pack. He liked Sango a lot, and Kaede too, but they were always busy and not as outright affectionate as this new woman. She was truly motherly, something he had been missing dearly ever since being orphaned.

To take her mind off of things he hopped off her lap and grabbed her hand tugging on it insistently. "Come on! I'll show you something super pretty to take your mind of that dumb dog."

Kagome giggled silently and followed the little fox kit as he trotted along in front of her. He led her through the forest a little ways and then after a bit of walking they came out of the foliage into bright sunlight. He had led her to a medium sized clearing. The truly spectacular thing was that it was full to the absolute brim with white lilies.

She gasped, taking in the shining field of flowers, her hand covering her mouth as it dropped open in shock and awe, overcome by the beauty of the place. It seemed right out of a fairy tale, and she slowly made her way into it, tiptoeing between the plants where she could. She went to the very center and then sat, feeling like she was hiding in the white flowers.

She gathered an armful and pulled them closer to her, burying her face in them to inhale the sweet aroma. She came away with a yellow nose and cheeks and Shippō pointed, giggling. "You've got pollen all over your face!"

She grinned widely and wiped a finger across one of her cheeks, looking down to see it indeed was coated in yellow powder. Smiling even more, she swiftly reached over and swiped her finger lightly over his cheek, leaving a yellow streak behind.

"Hey!" He protested, laughing loudly.

She went in for the other cheek but he hopped away, laughing and yelling over his shoulder, "Catch me if you can!" as he darted away through the lilies.

She laughed silently and pursued him, quickly losing him amongst the petals. The game of chase quickly turned into a game of hide and seek, and she prowled through the lilies, her eyes peeled for any hint of orange or blue vest. A giggle gave him away and she honed in on the sound, pinpointing his location. With a smirk she tiptoed to him and then pounced, startling a laugh out of him.

She grabbed him and started tickling him until he was gasping and then she let off. He lay in her lap, showing no signs of wanting to get up, and she was fine with that. They sat there for a long while and then he hopped off, trotting around and gathering flowers. He picked a whole bunch and brought them back to her, sitting in front of her crossed legs. He proceeded to take all the stalks and began weaving them together. Kagome watched curiously as he made a long string of flowers, amazed by how dexterous his little fingers were in crafting the neat braid, and soon he was tying the ends together. He picked up the round wreath of woven flowers and presented it to her proudly.

"Here! It's for your hair!"

She smiled and took the garland, placing it on her head.

INUYASHA POV

He watched from the trees, hidden. They couldn't smell him because of the flowers, so he was safe to spy on them without getting caught. How and why he had happened across them he didn't know, it seemed like some kind of twisted sense of humor from fate, since he had been trying to avoid Kagome.

But here he was, watching her interact with the young fox kit that had been adopted into their pack some time ago. The kid was handing her a ring of flowers and she put them on her head, smiling and thanking him. The little guy was eating up all the attention she gave him, and if Inuyasha looked at him too long he could feel bubbles of jealousy rearing their sour little heads up in his gut, but when he looked at her they all popped and disappeared.

As the orange haired kit clambered up into her lap, taking to her surprisingly quickly, Inuyasha watched, dumbfounded as she laughed and opened her arms, accepting him without reservations. Shippō had been ever so slightly standoffish, but always had gravitated more to the females. He had taken a liking to Sango and Kaede, but hadn't warmed up to them nearly as fast as he had to Kagome. Of course, they were slightly intimidating, so he could see why…but the way he had apparently latched onto the black haired woman sitting with him now in that field was amazing.

The kid snuggled into her and she wrapped her arms around him, smiling down at the top of his head with tender warmth in her eyes, her face totally peaceful. The kid seemed to fall asleep in her lap, curling up in her arms like she was his mom or something. It left Inuyasha feeling all weird and fuzzy again as he watched her with the kid.

The way she was acting with the young kit was so sweet, so kind, so … motherly… it wasn't hard to imagine her with a little pup. He didn't know how the image popped into his mind of her holding a little white haired pup in her arms, one that looked suspiciously like himself, but maybe with warm brown eyes like hers. Or maybe the pup had black hair with golden eyes, he mused, not even noticing what the hell was going through his head until a few solid minutes had passed.

When he realized what had happened a cold chill ran down his spine, snapping the warm fuzzies away like the crack of a whip. What the hell was he doing? Imaging her with pups that looked like them…like they were their pups, his and Kagome's…Holy fucking fuck…

He went absolutely white and turned, whacking his forehead against the nearest tree smartly to try and clear the insanity from his obviously loopy brain. Where the hell had that come from?!

He dashed away, even more disturbed than before.

KAGOME POV

As several more days passed, putting her into week two, she began to get more and more depressed, her time running out making her afraid. That fear was layered on top of the hurt and feelings of abandonment that she was trying her best to not feel, and it all made for a very unhappy Kagome. She grew more and more mopey, and Shippō, Kaede, and Sango all noticed her increasing funk.

To escape their questions she found herself spending more and more time alone, unable to bear too much questioning. It only served as a sharp reminder of just why she was so miserable. If she just wallowed in it, she could sort of go numb and not think about why exactly she was so sad.

So she found herself in the woods, semi-lost one day, moodily doing her best to figure out where exactly she had gotten herself and how to get back when she ran into the pervy monk.

She stopped short, giving him the hairy eyeball.

He turned and noticed her before she could hoof it back up her measly path and he smiled, coming over.

She took a step back, not sure if he was the type of pervert to try and take advantage of her.

He raised his hands up and said, "Woah, easy there. Sorry if I startled you."

She just kept eyeballing him.

"Ah, well, I guess I shouldn't have expected anything different. I apologize if our previous introduction came across as rude, pure habit I assure you. Come, let us start over. My name is Miroku."

She relaxed ever so slightly and nodded in greeting.

"There now. So, what circumstances find you on such an off the beaten path may I ask?"

She shrugged and waved her hand around aimlessly.

"Wandering then? I see. And what is the reason for the tears on your face? Have you been injured?"

She flinched, not even realizing that there were tears on her face, but when she reached up she verified that there was in fact moisture on her cheeks.

"Perhaps you are lost?"

At her noncommittal shrug he continued. "I just so happen to be heading back towards the village. You are free to join me if you would like."

After a few seconds' deliberation she nodded and walked a little closer, following as he turned back down the path. They walked in silence for a while, Kagome staring off into the distance with a glazed miserable expression stamped across her face as she pondered the state of her life at the moment.

"Judging by how distracted you look, I would say that being lost wasn't the only reason for your crying earlier." Miroku stated pleasantly.

Unknown by her, Miroku had heard some of what was going on, picking up and overhearing snippets of information from the others.

He reached over and gave her a sympathetic, and chaste, pat on the shoulder much to her surprise. "Don't worry, I'm sure Inuyasha will come around. He's probably just confused because he's not sure how he feels."

She glanced at him, surprised by how nice he was being, and that he even knew what was going on. It made sense of course, now that she thought about it. He and Sango were a thing right? Sango certainly knew about her predicament, so surely she had talked about it around this guy. She gave him a weak smile and mouthed, _"thanks"_ then turned and heaved a sigh, not really believing him.

He narrowed his eyes.

Once they had reached the village, he took his leave of her, and she continued on to Kaede's hut.

OTHER'S POV

Miroku, on the other hand, set off to find Inuyasha. His search finally led him to find the half-breed sprawled out on a random roof within the village, and he swiftly leapt up to join his fellow pack mate. He parked his butt silently next to the white haired man and then just as silently reached over and smacked him on the top of his head, hard enough to give him a throbbing goose-egg.

"Buh-what the hell was that for you damn monk?!" Inuyasha sputtered, sitting bolt upright and glaring at the other man, utterly incensed.

"You know good and well Inuyasha."

"How would I-…?" He started, but cut off when Miroku sent him a sharp look.

"Kagome? Remember? That young woman you brought here about a week ago?"

Inuyasha frowned. "Yeah, what about her?"

Miroku scowled even deeper and his golden staff came out of nowhere to lay another lump on top of the already sizable goose-egg.

Inuyasha winced and yelled, about to attack.

"You dumb ass, did you even realize what your disappearing act has been doing to her?"

Inuyasha drew up short, his fist stopping inches from the other man's face. "Wha-? What do you mean 'doing to her'? I haven't done anything!"

Heaving a sigh, Miroku pinched his brow in aggravation, losing his patience with Inuyasha. "Oh really? So her being depressed and moody has nothing to do with you suddenly not having anything to do with her?"

Inuyasha sat back on his haunches, scowling at the monk. "I dunno what you're talking about."

"Even without hearing Sango talk about it, I would have noticed! And I'm not even all that close to her! I barely even know her! But even I can tell she's upset and hurting. I found her today wandering in the woods all by herself, and she had obviously been crying! Shippō's seen her crying too! Are you honestly trying to tell me that you're stupid enough to not realize that your avoiding her is tearing her apart? Obviously the woman has some sort of feelings for you, so if you're going to break her heart, at least have the decency to do it cleanly man!" Miroku barked, his black ears slicked back hard against his skull, finally losing all manner of patience with Inuyasha.

The half-breed's ears pinned back and he winced as he took the lecture, feeling worse and worse with every word. He had been so wrapped up in his uneasiness that he truly hadn't realized he had been causing Kagome pain. The thought of it had his stomach feeling like it was dropping out of his body through the soles of his feet while his heart remained in his chest only due to the strangle hold on it. He swallowed thickly and then attempted to clear his suddenly tight throat, not entirely succeeding.

"Uh…" was pretty much all he could manage.

With an exasperated grumble, Miroku stood, sending one last scathing glare at him before leaping off the roof, leaving him to stew in his own thoughts.

KAGOME POV

Soon, she felt the itching sensation of needing to escape the many glances being sent her way from Kaede and Sango who were both keeping her company. She didn't need their pity. All it was doing was making her skin feel hot and tight with discomfort. And so, with the excuse that she needed a drink of water and was heading to the well to get some, she escaped the stiflingly tense atmosphere.

A deep sigh escaped her chest and she stared up the at the night sky, lingering next to the well for a moment. She wondered if this was the way it was going to be for the last few days she had. She only had a week and a half now.

Another deep mournful sigh escaped her and she bent, reaching to grab the rope holding the well bucket, but then suddenly she froze, feeling the creepy sensation of being watched. Ever so slowly she eased back, her hand going to the bow that Kaede had made her. Taking a deep breath she spun, bringing the bow up in front of her at the ready position.

When she saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes coming from the darkness of the forest she paused, knowing those eyes anywhere. She eased the bow back down and waited. Sure enough, Inuyasha eventually came walking out of the trees, joining her at the well. She just stood there and stared, at first just drinking in the look of him after not seeing him for several days, but then she started getting pissed, wondering what the heck he was doing, just appearing like this, as if nothing had happened.

After a long, tense, awkward silence he cleared his throat, rubbed the back of his neck and then grunted, "Uh…hey."

Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms tightly in front of her, cocking an eyebrow to ask what the hell had happened.

He winced, looking off uncomfortably to the side. _Good, he should be uncomfortable_ , she thought snarkily.

"I…uh…shit…." He huffed under his breath, "…huh … fuck…look, I…I just…" a deep growl came from his chest at this point, obviously coming from a deep frustration of some sort. For once it seemed he was at a loss for words, and soon Kagome's anger started seeping away, leaving her tired and aching.

She was just sad now. She didn't know what the heck was going on with him, but whatever it was sucked. She turned and started to walk away, but stopped at only one word.

"Sorry."

It was spoken softly, and rather roughly, but it was undoubtedly an apology. She blinked and turned, looking at him again, waiting to see if he had more to say.

"Look…I just…" He cleared his throat again, looking very uncomfortable. "I…I had a lot of stuff on my mind and … I just needed some space to think about it. I know it's not a great excuse, but it is the truth." He started mumbling a little towards the end, almost seeming to grit the words out between his teeth.

What he said made sense. If he had grown to like her at all, which it had seemed to her like maybe he had, and yet still maybe had feelings for Kikyo, then he could very well have needed some space to sort through things. Of course he could have also been thinking about whether or not he was okay with the potential of her being human, if he had figured that part out, or he could have just been coming to grips with the fact that she had saved his life several weeks ago. Whatever the case, she could believe that he had been struggling with something or other, apparently something involving her, and had needed space.

The important thing now, was that he had realized that his avoiding her had been worthy of an apology, and that he had at least explained his actions. It also seemed like whatever he had been struggling with was maybe a bit better now. Maybe he had been able to resolve whatever issues he was having.

She could feel the tension easing from her, and smiled at him, in a way that let him know he was forgiven. Even from a distance, in the dark, she could see his form relaxing some, only just now realizing how tensed up he must have been. That helped her relax even more, to know that this whole thing hadn't just been stressful to her.

Still…there was one matter left to resolve.

Getting a stern look on her face, she stomped over to him and pointed her finger at him, practically poking his chest as she got into his personal space to go toe to toe with him. His ears laid flat and his eyes opened wide as he took in her fierce expression. Making sure to form the words slowly and clearly she mouthed, _"…don't…disappear…again!"_

He blinked, and then his eyes softened a little, and he truly looked remorseful for a moment, before he cleared his throat and closed off a bit with discomfort, taking a step back and scowling. "Uh…yeah. Sure. No problem."

She knew that he was serious, and so she backed off, letting her aggressive posture melt away. Nodding, she smiled at him, letting her happiness wipe away most of the lingering distress she had been feeling lately.

After that, he resumed accompanying her most places, which went a long way to help sooth her hurts.

* * *

Author's Note:

Well there ya go...how many of you were surprised that Miroku of all people was the one who knocked him out of it? Ha! Of course he's still going to be somewhat uncomfortable about his feelings, but maybe he won't run off again.

And enter Shippo. :3 He's going to be a little more cute and a little less annoying in this story.


	10. Chapter 10

It was ironic that only a day after making up with Inuyasha, they were attacked.

They had been trapped while walking through the forest, a good ways from the village. The only reason they were that far away from the rest of the pack was because there had been some potential wolf sightings reported in that general area by a couple of the villagers who had an orchard out there, and Inuyasha had been obligated to go check it out. The risk had seemed mild, since the rival demon wolf-pack had never come this far into their territory. Most likely they figured it was maybe a few normal wolves that had wandered in.

The only reason Inuyasha had let her tag along was because she had petitioned Kaede to let her go, and the Alpha had felt it would be a good training exercise. Kagome knew good and well that the only reason she was allowed to go was because none of them had expected there to actually be any danger.

Oh how wrong they'd been.

It had indeed been the enemy demons, who had managed to sneak into their territory further than they ever had before, and they had set traps. The traps were of very high quality, and even Inuyasha hadn't sensed them until it was too late. They had both been scooped up into a net, and shot with darts that instantly made them both feel slightly weak. Somehow, Kagome could sense that the poison that had been in those darts would prevent them from transforming, but it didn't prevent Inuyasha from ripping the net open with his claws and fighting with his sword.

Unfortunately they had been outnumbered and unprepared, and Inuyasha had been slashed a good number of times with some weapons that looked like metal claws attached to the hands of the humanoid wolf-demons who had surrounded them. Kagome seriously held her own with her bow, taking down an impressive number of them before they got too close for the long distance weapon. Once they were too close to use her bow she slashed at them with her claws, but she still wasn't a good short-range fighter yet and when they got inside her bubble she was toast.

Inuyasha took out more than she did, and yet somehow there were still enough left to take them down. The only reason they could though, was because it quickly became apparent that the claw weapons were coated in some sort of toxin, one which almost entirely paralyzed Inuyasha and seemed to cause him a great deal of pain.

Kagome hadn't been poisoned because they hadn't needed to use weapons to take her down once they had gotten past her arrows. But she was still bound as tightly as Inuyasha, and both were picked up by their feet and shoulders and taken to the enemy camp.

The place they were taken to wasn't a permanent village like the one Kagome now almost felt was home, instead it was just a camp, one that could be moved, and the cage they were thrown into was likewise one that could be set up and taken down for transportation. This temporary enemy base was totally within the dog-demon territory, a fact that Kagome found out by listening to Inuyasha snarling to himself about it.

Kagome grunted as she hit the ground rather roughly, the impact so sudden and her head hitting the ground with so much force that she barely heard Inuyasha's yell of protest, filled with many bad words. She peeled herself off the dirt as she heard the creak of the cage door and the thunk of finality as it shut behind her. Sitting up was a feat in and off itself since she didn't have use of her arms. They had been bound tightly behind her back, from elbow to fingers, completely making them useless.

Spitting out a mouthful of dirt tainted with blood from biting her cheek upon impact, her thighs shook as she managed to lever herself upright. Their captors had disappeared of course, leaving them in relatively dim light, utterly alone inside the small cave where their cage was located. It was a shallow cave, the entrance only a few feet from the door of the cage, and grass grew sparsely inside, along with other scrubby plants. But Kagome paid little attention to her surroundings at first; her main concern was Inuyasha.

He had been grievously injured, slashed deeply a good number of times in his torso. It wasn't exactly anything new for the dog-demon apparently, according to him at least. This time though, Kagome could see that the injuries were actually very dangerous for her companion, because the weapons had been laced with that poison, and it had almost immediately sapped Inuyasha's power. It was the only reason he was leaning propped up in the corner of the cage, his arms bound like hers behind his back. Normally, she doubted he would have ever been captured so easily in the first place, and if somehow he had, she suspected he would have easily broken the simple, but tough, ropes wrapped tightly around his arms and hands. Now however, he half-lay, half-sat in the corner of the cage, panting and sweating heavily, his eyes half-lidded with pain. He could barely move.

Kagome managed to shuffle on her knees across the rough ground to him, kneeling at his side. Her anxious and worried look conveyed her concern. She asked with her eyes to the best of her ability if he was alright.

His head tilted back and leaned against the bars of their prison and his yellow eyes slid to the side to meet hers. She was sitting up tall on her knees and her head was higher than his, given his slumped position so he was looking blearily up at her.

He gave her a weak scowl. "I'm gonna be just fine. I'll bust us outa here and pound those assholes into the ground." He paused on a subtle wince. "…shit…" He growled on a groan. "… I'll kill them all, as soon as I can fucking move."

The last bit was said very softly under his breath, but Kagome still heard it.

Whatever poison they had used must have been some pretty awful stuff to have him on his back like this, or almost on his back. She knew she'd have to do something, and fast, because they had made it clear that he'd be dying soon. That was why they were just letting them sit here all by themselves after all. The enemy was undoubtedly confident that Inuyasha would be dead soon and had just thrown him in here to let him rot. Once he was dead, who knows what they'd do with Kagome.

She had to give it to them though, they were sneaky. They'd hit them when their backs were turned, had used poison, and now were just waiting the more dangerous opponent out.

And Kagome could tell he was absolutely furious.

Inuyasha was quiet, his gleaming golden eyes fixed on the door and burning with fire. Somehow, even without ever having fought beside him before, she could sense that it was when he stopped yelling obscenities and started up with that calculating enraged glare that Inuyasha was most dangerous. She had never seen him this eerily quiet before, his normally loud mouth almost never stopping for any lengthy amount of time.

Kagome didn't really have any time to ponder his silence or their situation or a possible escape plan, because contrary to what she had figured they would do, someone did come to the cage. Only a few minutes had passed since they had arrived at this enemy camp. She'd thought they would just wait till Inuyasha was dead, but instead the leader approached, standing at the cage door, his long brown ponytail gleaming from the faint light of the fire somewhere outside behind him. His hip cocked, a bushy brown tail swishing behind him, and a grin spread across his thin lips as he stared at them huddled in the corner of the prison. He would have been attractive, if he hadn't been so damn evil looking. Then again, Kagome wasn't sure she was a huge fan of his short fur tunic and furry leg warmers. In fact, he was just wearing too much fur altogether.

Not that Kagome really had eyes for anyone other than Inuyasha.

Given how in love she was with Inuyasha; she wasn't at all fazed by the attractiveness of their captor. She simply felt rage towards the man. She glared at him and moved her body subtly in front of Inuyasha's, ignoring the soft growl that came from behind her, a sound that said he wasn't too pleased about her protective stance.

The man in front of them chuckled. "Oh, how sweet, your little girlfriend is trying to protect you Inuyasha."

He got no response from the white haired man behind Kagome, but she could practically feel the way his eyes were burning a hole through the back of her skull, aimed right at the enemy. If looks could kill she was sure the enemy would be dead and her head would be a donut.

" _What do you want, you bastard?!"_ She mouthed, trying to get his attention off Inuyasha. She wasn't one to cuss normally, but this was an exception. Of course he probably didn't know what she had said.

His blue grey eyes shifted and speared her, giving her goosebumps. He grinned wider, showing some fang.

"So you're the new little priestess dog. What a cute spitfire." He licked his lips. "I like that. Although it seems you have no voice. What a shame. I won't be able to hear any adorable screams from you or anything."

She shuddered and mouthed some more, sure he wouldn't be able to understand, but without her hands it was all she could do. _"Gross, that's just nasty. What the hell did you capture us for, Pervert?!"_

"Pervert am I?" He laughed, shocking her that he had been able to read her lips that well. "Well darling Kagome, I'm assuming you just asked what I am planning to do with you to. First of all, I want to kill Inuyasha. Second, I want information about the dog-pack. And third…maybe I want you for a little fun."

"None of those things are going to happen. Fuck off." Inuyasha finally growled from behind Kagome.

The demon raised an eyebrow, and then suddenly he reached inside the relatively small cage and managed to wrap his fingers around Kagome's neck before she could back out of the way or dodge. She gasped and choked as he squeezed and dragged her mercilessly to the door, slamming her right up against the bars in front of him.

Inuyasha shouted, "KAGOME!" and then made a terrifying growl that even had _her_ skin crawling with unease.

She couldn't say anything at all, her windpipe utterly shut by the creep's strong hand wrapped around it.

"Now, you hush back there, Mutt, unless you have some useful information on your pack." The demon said almost pleasantly before turning to Kagome and utterly ignoring Inuyasha. Normally that would have been a very dumb move, but since even Kagome could hear the way he was scrambling to just sit up a little, there was no way he could get to the cage door to help.

The demon's fingers relaxed their grip around her throat a little, and then he reached through the bars with his other hand and grabbed Kagome by the hair, holding her in place. He tightened his hand painfully in her hair, getting a little wince from her and then leaned in close, saying, "We can do this one of two ways. You can nicely tell me, in your own way, what you know of the dog pack, any weaknesses, when they have a guard shift and when they don't, where their provisions are kept, stuff like that. Or, we can do this the hard way."

She gritted her teeth and very clearly mouthed the words, _"Go to hell."_

"I almost hoped you would say that." He grinned, and yanked hard on her hair, slamming her head forward into the bars.

Kagome gasped and then air-cried out in surprise and pain as her face was smashed into the bar, her forehead, eyebrow, and right cheek bone all blooming with bright pain. She felt warmth and something drip down from her eyebrow and knew the skin must have split under the assault. The sudden impact also had her head feeling a little weird for a second and it took a moment for her to refocus her eyes on the enemy, who was broadly grinning and showing full fang now.

Inuyasha was downright beside himself behind her, spitting and snarling and growling and sounding positively rabid. But he still couldn't move.

Kagome grimaced and glared at the enemy. He just grinned and said, "Now! Would you like to taste more pain or will you simply tell me what I want to know?"

She spat in his face in response. In retrospect it wasn't the smartest move.

"Oh! So you want to play do you?" He barked, and accompanied the exclamation with his hand wrapping more firmly around her neck. He jerked her to the side while opening the door and then yanked her out. He swiftly closed the door behind her, before slamming her back against it.

She coughed as her back and bound arms hit the bars behind her. She used what little mobility she had in her tied up fingers and tried to grip the bar directly behind her, not about to be hauled off to some feudal torture room. It was hard to ignore Inuyasha, who was now yelling obscenities and still growling, trying to get the guy's attention, but she forced herself to focus on the enemy in front of her.

"Tell me what you know, Bitch!" The demon in front of her snarled, seeming to have a rapid mood switch and turning furious. His fist slammed into her solar plexus, hard enough to send her to her knees. She groaned silently as the thudding agony spread through her body, her head pounding, her eyebrow still dripping blood, her shoulders wrenched, her throat sore, and now her chest and stomach throbbing with a tight misery that made it hard to breathe for a few seconds.

She sputtered weakly into the ground, staying on her knees with her head nearly touching the dirt and her ears slicked back in submission, not really wanting to be beaten.

She felt him kneel in front of her, and his hand patted her head almost tenderly, seeming to have yet another abrupt mood swing. "That's right…good girl. Nice and submissive. Now, I want you to start with the Alpha. Do you know who the Alpha of the dog pack is?"

Heeding the frantic commands of Inuyasha to just tell him what he wanted to know, she mouthed the word, _"Kaede."_ It took him a while to get that one, and then he asked what she looked like. He followed that with more questions, which she also answered, to the best of her ability. This didn't last very long, because soon she had run out of things to say. She didn't know any more about the dog pack since she was new, and he quickly grew frustrated.

"That's IT?! That's ALL you know!?" He barked, and the soft hand on her head suddenly shoved her face roughly into the dirt and grass under it.

Kagome sputtered and then choked as she tried to breathe through her face-full of earth. Her eyes were shut tightly, but she couldn't prevent the dirt from being ground into her open cuts, and she winced at the gritty feeling.

"Useless Girl!" His hand stopped shoving her down, only to grab onto her bound wrists. He stood, hauled her to her feet, practically lifting her by her tightly wrapped arms, which stressed her shoulders, and Kagome yelled silently as he yanked cruelly at her. He spun her around so her back was to his front and then snapped his hand back over her throat. He then proceeded to question Inuyasha, using her to get him to talk. It didn't take much to get him to open his mouth, all this guy, Koga according to the many loud yells directed at him by Inuyasha, had to do was hold her still with the one hand on her throat, while the other traveled over her body, switching between inappropriate groping and poking his claws through her clothes, drawing beads of blood. He always stopped doing whatever he was doing when Inuyasha answered the question, but then started up again at the next question.

Once he was satisfied that he had gotten all the information he needed, he dragged her back to the cage. The cage door was opened and she was thrown inside brutally, swung by her hands, and she felt her shoulders make several ominous popping sounds, and burning pain cracked across her entire expanse of shoulder and collarbone area. She fully expected her body to impact the ground once again, but to her surprise she landed rather harshly against something warm, softer than the ground, firm, and a little damp.

The door was slammed shut and the enemy turned and left, leaving Kagome and Inuyasha alone once again. But only after saying, "I'll come back later for you, sweet Kagome." The words prompted a deep rumble to come up from under her.

After the initial impact, Kagome had slumped and tumbled down to lie across what she now realized were Inuyasha's thighs. He had somehow managed to drag himself sort of upright, and was in the process of crawling on his knees towards the door when she had been tossed in. He had apparently lunged with the last little bit of his strength to let Kagome land on him instead of the ground. Kagome had been too busy at the time to notice any of this however.

But now she noticed, and she also noticed the way her shoulders and arms felt moist now, presumably with his blood.

" _Inuyasha! What are you doing! Moving around is only going to speed up the poison's progress!"_ She mouthed silently, trying to get back to her knees.

Inuyasha just grumbled something incomprehensible under his breath, the only bit that she could understand being, "…shut up idiot…" Undoubtedly he heard her sputters but was unable to understand them.

He started hauling them both back, eventually settling back in his corner, the furthest point from the cage door as possible. As she was basically dragged across the floor, a little plant caught her eye as she passed by it, and her head popped up. She looked around in growing glee and wiggled her way off Inuyasha's lap.

She quickly shuffled over to investigate. To her glee, it was indeed the herb that Kaede had shown her.

"What are you doin'?" Inuyasha grunted from his spot, sullenly slumping back against the wall.

She mouthed, _"medicine"_ and then, _"antidote"_ and pointed with her eyes and head at the plants.

He perked up behind her and she turned her head to see his golden eyes watching her intently, his ears trained hard in her direction. "You sure? How are you gonna use it? Your hands are tied."

She shrugged, and figured the only way she was going to be able to do it was to use her mouth, which she could just demonstrate. So, she widened her stance and wasting no time in ducking her upper body down to the ground, curling up almost in a fetal position, and attempting to chomp down on the little low-to-the-ground plants. But to her utter frustration, the red ribbon that she had tied around her neck as an accessory this morning kept swinging forward and blocking her mouth. She was so eager that she repeatedly received mouthfuls of the red fabric, and simply couldn't seem to work around it. It had been loosened by that damn Koga nearly strangling her, and was now up loosely swinging instead of tied securely around her throat. It kept sliding up her neck and nearly gagging her.

She sat up with a huff, and looked down at the offending article of fabric, and started silently grumbling at it under her breath.

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked from his place in the corner.

She turned and demonstrated the problem for him by bending over and getting the ribbon in her mouth, and then spat it out disgustedly.

Then she glanced up to see his eyebrows raised, he looked a tad incredulous. After a short pause he said, "Why don't you just bite it off?"

She gaped at him in some consternation. _"How?!"_ she mouthed at him.

"Well you said it's getting in your mouth. Just gnaw through it."

Frowning she decided to give it a try, despite already knowing it wouldn't work. She bent forwards and managed to get it in her mouth and then sat up again and started chewing. After a good few minutes she spat it back out. She simply didn't have the right angle on it to pull it off. It would be much easier if it was in front of her and she could bite onto it and pull and tear at it, but as it was, it nearly worked as a gag and pulled her jaw back too far for her to properly chew on it.

Inuyasha heaved a sigh. "Come'ere then. I'll get it off for ya."

She blinked, confused, and shuffled over on her knees, trying to ignore the way the stone and dirt and grass ground into her skin. She gave him a questioning look to ask, _"how?"_ once she sat in front of him.

He jerked his head wearily. "Get over here. Jeez."

Blinking even more, she scooted closer, and at his slightly exasperated glare she inched closer. She wasn't sure what he was planning, and she didn't really want to know. She was getting a feeling of foreboding, and if her suspicion was correct she didn't think she'd be able to handle his plan.

At his huffing sound of frustration, she snapped, mouthing _"what do you want?"_ She had both her knees pressed tightly to his thigh and she was leaning over him as much as she dared, keeping a good two foot distance between their chests. It was still too close for her though.

"If you want me to bite the damn thing off, then get your ass over here so I can reach it!" He practically barked at her, sounding irritable and tired. There was also a note of pain in his voice.

It was that pain that snapped her to attention. She got over her insecurities and got herself as close as she could, leaning down so she could try and get the ribbon to his mouth. The angle was way too awkward though, and she lost her balance, almost tipping over on top of him. She managed to lung back fast enough to prevent herself from slamming into his injured chest, although she fell off her knees and hit her elbow on the ground as she tried to correct herself from falling backwards from the overcorrection.

"Kagome! What the hell are you doing? Are you okay?" Inuyasha sputtered, sounding concerned, irritated, and amused, all at the same time.

She nodded with an exasperated sigh, dragging herself upright again and giving up on having any sort of propriety.

She got up close again, still trying to avoid the inevitable, but when her balance nearly tipped over again, she huffed and was forced to put a knee up on his thighs for balance. She refused to straddle him, and ended up in a rather strange sideways position, almost half-way on his lap with one knee on the ground pressed up against his hip and the other propped up on both his legs. She leaned her shoulder very lightly against his and tossed her hair over her other shoulder to present the side of her neck to him, finally getting close enough that his mouth could latch on.

This was so incredibly awkward for Kagome, and she did her best to try not to blush… and failed spectacularly. Even so, it helped that Inuyasha was being so business-like about it, although she couldn't have any way of knowing that his cheeks were also just a tad pink, since her face was turned away from his. She tensed as she felt a tug on the ribbon and his hot breath on her jaw and cheek. The ribbon turned and he started to work on the knot of the bow, snarling as he did. She had made it nearly impossible to untie by gnawing on it herself.

After several minutes of that he paused and let her go. "I don't think I can untie this, Kagome. I'm gonna have to bite it off. But I might get you too."

She nodded to show that she understood, her ears twitching with discomfort and anxiety. The faster they could get this done the better, because Koga had said he'd be coming back for her.

After a pause she felt another tug on her ribbon, this one quite a bit stronger. His nose pressed into the skin under her jaw as he got a firmer grip and his head jerked back sharply as he bit on the cloth. She heard a rip, but it didn't tear all the way. He growled and went in again, and this time she jerked as first she felt his lips contact her neck, and then a sharp fang scratched harshly across her skin. She braced herself as his head jerked side to side, like a dog, and the fabric ripped, finally coming off.

She sighed and made to lean back.

"Damn…I'm sorry Kagome. Looks like one of my fangs drew blood." Inuyasha grumbled, sounding remorseful and frustrated and tired.

Kagome started trying to breathe, _"it's okay"_ since he was close enough to hear her, and then stopped to air-squeak as she felt a warm wet swipe on the slight sting on her neck.

She lunged back, falling on her backside and scooting a few feet away, mouthing, _"did you just lick me?!"_

This time she did see the flush bloom on his cheeks and his eyes widened in shock. "Uh…I-I-I, I'm sorry! It was instinct!"

It was so rare to hear him stutter that she was soothed somewhat with a shock of amusement. He seemed nearly as startled as she was herself, and she figured it made sense, if what he said was true. After all, he was a dog-demon. Maybe it truly had just been an instinct to lick the scratch he had inflicted on her. Still, the warmth and wetness still lingered on her skin and tingled pleasantly, making her intensely aware of it. And that was very uncomfortable for Kagome. Of course, having feelings for him meant she often thought about kissing him and stuff, but it typically made her so flustered that she tried not to do it too much in his presence, or at all if she could.

She nodded awkwardly, and turned to hide her red face. She had other things she needed to be doing now, like gathering those herbs to help Inuyasha heal. She shuffled back over to the patch of green and bowed down to them, getting her face down close to the ground to finally bite on the really terrible tasting herbs. She nearly threw up at the exceptionally bitter taste that exploded on her tongue and did heave a few times, rather violently in fact, but forced herself to gnaw off as much as she could and then chew it down to a pulp she could store in her cheek so she could collect more.

Inuyasha watched in silence, and Kagome was unaware of the way he was silently amazed by the lengths to which she would go to care for him.

Once her mouth was at full capacity, she heaved herself back up and shuffled awkwardly over to Inuyasha, before halting and squinting in some consternation at the problem that suddenly presented itself. She really needed to plan ahead, because now she was just realizing that to do this, Inuyasha's red fire-rat robe had to come off, along with his white kosode. And how was she supposed to do that with her hands tied? Obviously she'd have to somehow unclothe him with her teeth, which was a shockingly embarrassing prospect in and of itself. But what was worse, was that it was an impossible feat since her mouth was full of the herb.

She could just spit it out and start over again, but she had managed to pack a good amount into her mouth, and she didn't know how much she would need. Inuyasha noted her pause, saw the way she was eyeballing his red clothing, and figured out what the problem was. He attempted to reach down and undo the string holding the top together with his teeth, but simply couldn't reach, and the effort exhausted him.

"Just spit it out and get more." He panted, leaning his head back against the bars and closing his eyes.

She met his eyes, looked back at the green herbs to try and judge if there was enough left, and then she looked back at his chest, trying to judge how serious his injuries were by the blood stains. Her looking back and forth apparently clued Inuyasha into the problem she was trying to figure out, because he frowned and looked around her towards the diminished patch of herbs.

"Huh. You did a pretty good amount of damage," he sighed, closing his eyes again. For a long time he remained silent, presumably thinking.

She was also thinking, trying to figure out where she could temporarily store the contents of her mouth. It had to be a place she was fine with licking to get the chewed mass of herbs back into her mouth. In other words, not the ground. If only she could spit it into her hand…but then she would have access to her hands and that would solve the problem entirely. Thinking of wild alternatives…she supposed she could maybe place it temporarily on Inuyasha…but he only really had the skin on his face or his neck…and she wasn't comfortable with licking any of Inuyasha's skin. She could put it on her leg, but she was pretty sure it would slide off and onto the ground, especially if she had to move around to pull off his upper clothing. She glanced around to see if there were any relatively flat stones she could spit it on, but unfortunately the few rocks in their cage consisted of small useless pebbles. She looked back to the patch of herbs, hoping that maybe they would be thick enough to hold the mashed green stuff in her mouth above the dirt, but with her chewing and gnawing she had thinned them out to the point that the herbs would just fall to the earth in between the sparse stalks.

There wasn't anywhere else in the cage she could put it that wouldn't get dirt mixed into the herb. It wasn't eating the dirt that bothered Kagome, it was the fact that the dirt would then be smeared into Inuyasha's wounds along with the poultice, and she had no idea what sorts of chemicals or poisons might be in this dirt from the dripped blood of previous inhabitants. It might infect his wounds even worse and that wasn't something she wanted to risk.

Inuyasha heaved a great sigh, distracting her from her depressing train of thoughts. He grimaced, which didn't make Kagome feel very confident about what was about to come out of his mouth. "Well…since I can't think of any other option, I'll just hold it while you take care of this…" He nodded down at his red clothing.

She blinked, not really understanding.

One of his golden eyes slitted open at the long questioning pause, correctly interpreting it as her asking him, _"how?"_ and he pinned her with a mildly irritated look. "The same way that you're holding it, Dummy. In my mouth."

Her eyes popped open with shock, trying to absorb the implications of that statement. That would mean she'd have to … essentially do mouth to mouth. And not just one time, but twice. Once to place the stuff there and again to get it back from him. That meant kissing him…which was not something she thought she could do. She looked over her shoulder and eyeballed the remaining herbs, once again critically analyzing what was left and then shifted her gaze back to Inuyasha to do the same to the amount of blood on his front and the size and number of tears in his shirt, trying her best to convince herself there would be enough if she just spat the current stuff in her mouth onto the ground.

But everything Kaede had taught her said "no." There simply wasn't enough, and even if there was, it would be risky. And this was one thing she couldn't risk, because if Inuyasha didn't heal, they would both die. With these stakes, she'd just have to do what she had to do.

She winced, hung her head, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before shuffling over to him, avoiding looking him in the eye. It wasn't that she didn't want to kiss him, she did, very much in fact, but she didn't know if he wanted to kiss her. That made this incredibly awkward. Then again, even if she knew he did want to kiss her, she probably would have still been shy and embarrassed.

Once she was right next to him, close enough that she could lean over and do the deed, she stalled, flushing and wondering how the heck to go about this.

He flushed too when he felt her breath on his face and cracked open his once again closed eyes at her pause, quickly losing his patience and saying, "Just put it in my mouth! It's not that difficult a concept, Kagome. You don't have to plan a fucking battle strategy for it or anything."

Kagome scowled at him in admonishment and once again propped one knee on his leg to get closer.

His yellow eyes watched her as she approached, and she stalled once again, her eyes finding it impossible to rest on his face with his eyes staring at her like that.

She looked off to the side in embarrassment, and then gathered up her courage and pointedly looked at his eyes before squeezing her eyes closed - then did it again when he didn't get the message to, _"please close your eyes!"_ the first time. She flushed even harder as she looked away, not leaning back despite really, really wanting to.

He heaved a sigh, and said eyes rolled in exasperation before closing. He tensed under her as he felt her leaning in, and Kagome could feel it where her knees were touching him. She hovered an inch from his face, hesitating to close that last tiny bit of distance between their lips.

She was trembling now, all her emotions a mess, the stress of the situation making an already intense circumstance even worse on her poor nerves. Having to kiss Inuyasha under these circumstances was…it was terribly difficult. She knew she'd probably remember the feel of his mouth under hers for the rest of her life, whatever was left of it. And what if she failed and this was the only chance she would ever get? How sad, to kiss him for the only time in this setting.

She stalled too long.

"Kagome…." Inuyasha rumbled warningly, apparently getting sick and tired of waiting, his eyes cracking open.

She bit her lip and then mouthed, with her teeth clenched to prevent the herb from escaping, _"open your mouth,"_ the request making her burn bright red and feel like she had a fever. This was utterly humiliating.

He flushed, thankfully able to read her mouth even with her teeth clenched, and his lips parted to her surprise without any protest, which meant she didn't actually have to touch him. He even closed his eyes again.

She took one last deep breath, before she lowered to a hairsbreadth from him, until she could only barely feel a feather light brush. Even that barely-there touch of his lips against hers was enough to make her shiver, and she was quick to part her lips and carefully deposit the green muck from her mouth into Inuyasha's, letting gravity do most of the work for her and doing her best to not actually spit or drool into his mouth as she pushed it out with her tongue.

He winced and his golden eyes flew open in shock at the taste. She jerked back, right as he heaved, but thankfully he kept it all in and hopefully hadn't mixed it with bile. His face screwed up and he stared at her with wide, shocked eyes as he heaved again.

" _Sorry,"_ she mouthed, wincing.

He gave her an incredulous look.

She hustled to get to business, once again finding herself amazed that she was actually about to do what she was about to do. She simply couldn't believe she was going to undress Inuyasha with her teeth, but that was precisely what she was planning on doing. She eyeballed his outfit, and determined that the string would have to be tackled first up at the top of his crisscrossed collar. She also had to focus on her balance, not wanting to fall into him and hurt his injuries. She stabilized herself firmly, and then leaned in, managing to get the end of the bow-knot with her teeth and undoing it without much trouble. The tight collar loosened considerably and she grabbed a mouthful of the red, disgustingly furry fabric and firmly pulled back with her whole upper body.

She yanked the front open, then went back in and delicately gripped the edges of the red over-coat with her teeth to pull it open further and down his arms a bit as well. She was stymied a bit by the tie around his waist, but she got that undone with a bit off effort, and then the one on the inside as well, though it was exceptionally awkward. To get that one she had to shove her head practically inside his shirt nudging it to the side as much as it would go and grabbed the tie with her teeth before giving a good yank, all while ignoring the warmth of his body and the distinct Inuyasha scent that engulfed her senses.

Occasionally she had to brace her chest against him, which was really humiliating, and she tried to use her sore shoulders or collar bone as much as possible instead of her breasts, but it was inevitable sometimes. He mainly stayed still during the whole process, though he would occasionally twitch or tense under her, and she figured she must be causing him some accidental pain.

Finally, she had his red overcoat completely open and hanging off his shoulders and she set to the next white layer, repeating the whole process while ignoring the touches of her mouth and face on his bare skin. It was easy though in a way, because the smears of blood on her cheeks from his wounds and the stronger scent of his blood constantly reminded her of her purpose. Soon both shirts were open and his chest and stomach were exposed, showing off the depth and gravity of the injuries she was trying to treat. The wounds were a terrible purple color and radiated lines.

She had to hurry.

She leaned back up to get the mush back and Inuyasha's eyes met hers again. She flushed and gritted her teeth. Since he would be passing it up to her instead of down, he wouldn't be able to use gravity the way she had, so they would have to actually have lip contact this time, a fact Kagome had been trying to not think about. But time was of the essence, and if she spent too much time thinking about it she would freeze up like before, so she just went for it, pressing her mouth against his and hoping he would get it over with as quickly as possible.

She locked all her muscles in place to prevent herself from running screaming from the feeling of his lips pressed to hers. She slammed her eyes shut and waited, getting the brief impression of Inuyasha's eyes widening in shock. His lips were hard at first since they had pressed together out of shock, but they slowly softened under hers, and she was shocked by how soft they felt. She never would have imagined a pair of lips would feel this way, since technically this was her first kiss. Inuyasha's lips were soft to press against, but she could feel roughness on the surface from them being chapped, and they were amazingly warm. She felt his breath on her cheek, and noted it was rapid, practically matching her own, and this close his scent nearly overpowered her again. She had intimately gotten familiar with that scent through this whole incident, especially with getting her face up close and personal to his sweaty chest.

His mouth twitched under hers and she responded, forcing herself not to give into the wish to actually kiss him. She simply kept her lips pressed to his and opened her mouth to accept the paste. It was nearly impossible to only do that. She burned to press her lips to his, repeatedly and in different ways, to actually move her lips against his, the way she had read about in books, to actually kiss him and feel his lips kiss her back. It was amazing how much concentration she had in her mouth right now, aware of every little muscle in her lips and wanting to use them to rub her lips against his, to feel more of his mouth against hers, to feel every little nuance of his lips with her own, but she held herself back through force of will alone.

She quickly was distracted by the taste of the green stuff and was never so thankful for bitterness in her whole life. Inuyasha had to spit it up out of his mouth, which took several goes to get it all, and Kagome chipmunked it in her cheeks to prevent it from falling back down into his mouth. It was awkward and a bit messy, and some of it was lost and spilled down poor Inuyasha's cheeks and over his chin, but eventually she had most of it back in her mouth and she pulled away.

He rubbed his face on his shoulders to remove the green ooze, grimacing at the foul taste lingering in his mouth.

Now for the next fun part…she had to put this green gunk that was in her mouth onto his wounds.

She went for the first one on his shoulder, using her nose to nudge the shoulder of his shirts aside until they fell down his arm even more and exposed that wound. She carefully spat the paste into the wound and then used her mouth to compress it and make sure it was packed into the deep cut, getting his blood all over her lips, chin, and cheeks as she did so. She grimaced, but continued to do it.

Inuyasha winced and a deep whine crawled out of his chest, but he stayed still for her, all his muscles locking into place. She knew this stuff was supposed to sting like a bitch, so she wasn't surprised at his reaction.

She went to the next, much deeper wound on his chest, and once again spat into it, packing it in tight with her mouth and chin. She almost used up all of it in her mouth on that one and used the rest on another lower down. Now that she had access to her tongue, she went back up to the top one, and packed it in even tighter with her tongue, despite grimacing and really hating herself as she did so. It was disgusting, and she couldn't help but feel horrified that she was essentially sticking her tongue in his open wounds, but it was the only way to make sure the herb was in as tight as it needed to be, especially on the deeper wounds.

She shuffled back over to the patch of herbs and repeated the whole unsavory process, having to return again and again for more herbs. It was incredibly unpleasant. The herbs tasted awful, his blood tasted like blood which wasn't something Kagome liked in the least. In fact, the taste of blood was always the reason she had hated her teeth being pulled as a kid. It was literally one of the least favorite flavors in the world for her. And his blood tasted even worse, because she could taste the poison. At the very least, it didn't seem nearly as repugnant now that she was a demon, which was a blessing because she would have thrown up by now otherwise.

The poison itself was making her lips, tongue, mouth, chin, cheeks, and even her nose begin to burn, and as she inevitable ended up swallowing some of it she could feel herself getting woozy and start to feel poisoned herself. This poison was no joke, it was meant to bring down the most powerful of demons.

And then there was simply the embarrassment, humiliation, and horror of what she was doing. She didn't ever get used to using her tongue as a compress, and it felt so gross. But on the other hand, her lips were touching his skin, and that was a whole different problem in and of itself. Basically she was kissing his entire chest and stomach, or at least a good deal of it, and that was proving to be trying for her in all kinds of ways.

Eventually though she had managed to get the green gunk in all his wounds. Dragging her exhausted aching body to slump against the uncomfortable bars of their prison next to Inuyasha, she sighed, resting alongside him.

Now it was up to him.

* * *

Tada! Koga has made an appearance! :D

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Anyone have any predictions on what might happen next?

As always, a big thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far.


	11. Chapter 11

She leaned her head back against the bars of their prison and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the pounding in her head and the way her mouth felt like it was on fire. The burn was pure pain, not heat, and she grimaced, smacking her lips together and regretting it when the renewed taste of blood and bitter herbs filled her mouth. She felt quite dizzy now, and figured that wasn't a good sign.

They sat there in silence for a long moment, and she could hear the way his breathing was slowly growing steadier, and when she rolled her head to look at him, wincing when the movement made her stomach lurch, she could see that his face was much more relaxed and less shiny with sweat.

She gently blew a little air at him and his ears twitched, before he turned his head a bit to give her the side eye. At her questioning look, obviously meaning, _"how do you feel?"_ he sighed and rolled his shoulders as if testing them.

"I can feel my strength returning and the burn from the poison is slowly leaving. Those herbs were great, Kagome."

She grinned tiredly.

They didn't communicate again for another long while. Kagome could feel herself slowly drifting, the poison now in her system from being absorbed through the sensitive insides of her mouth, and she felt more and more woozy and nauseous, and her body began to grow unresponsive, the paralysis part of it hitting her. Those herbs were really only good as a poultice, and were good for cleaning blood, but in terms of ingested poison they didn't do squat, which was bad news for her.

By the time Koga reappeared in front of the cage door, she was almost seeing double, and had to squint at him to figure out who was now speaking. She also had a little trouble focusing on the words, since they sounded strangely echo-y.

She eventually was able to make it out after some effort. "Hey! What did you do to him? Why does he have all that green stuff on him?"

She didn't really feel like responding so she didn't. And that seemed to really tick him off, judging by the way he unlocked the cage door and reached in to grab her, his hand once again wrapping around her already bruised and still very sore throat to haul her forward. She only managed a weak silent groan, which sounded like a sigh, feeling the pain but unable to really express it with her sluggish lungs. She'd rather succumb to the sleepiness of the poison, rather than the burn she could feel rushing through her whole body now.

But she was forced to awareness as she slammed against the open cage door, giving her a strong sense of dejavu.

As soon as all that fuzzy cotton was ripped out from between her ears she was suddenly bombarded with all the pain of the poison coursing through her system, making her insides feel like they were burning and cramping up. Her entire stomach and digestive system felt like the world's worst menstrual cramp, or like a truly horrific case of either diarrhea or vomit, or both, in the making.

A very loud gust of air, which was her pathetic silent scream now issued from her throat as she tried to curl into herself, almost forgetting about the hand around her neck in favor of the abrupt wake up call to the enormous amount of pain she was now in. Her skin immediately broke into a cold sweat and she began panting to try and relieve some of the pain. Of course the fact that her throat was being constricted sort of interfered with her heavy breathing, and she ended up choking instead, wheezing pathetically.

"Hey bastard! Let her go!" Inuyasha roared from behind her, and she heard a distinctive ripping sound that said he had broken free from his restraints.

She plopped to the ground as the hand was removed from around her neck and she immediately curled into a fetal position. She heard a great amount of loud noises, crashing, booming, and yelling along with the sounds of Inuyasha drawing his sword and clanging metal. It sounded like he was now fighting with the enemy pack, but she was so absorbed in her pain that she couldn't bring herself to stand or even to look up. She gritted her teeth and did some deep breathing, doing her best to get it under control. Inuyasha could need her help, as little as she could provide right now, and she needed to be more aware of her surroundings in the middle of a battle situation.

She was just managing to shakily push herself up onto her knees, with the intent of trying to drag herself to her feet next…maybe…when a warm hand landed on her shoulder. She flinched, and Inuyasha's voice hurried to reassure her.

"It's just me! Sorry for scaring you. Hey…what are you doing? Why are you still here? Are you okay?" He sounded concerned and confused.

She silently groaned again and held back a heave as she forced herself to sit up. Her vision and hearing cut out for a brief second as she felt a major dizzy wave hit her and she gritted her teeth as a fresh layer of clammy sweat broke over her skin.

She mouthed _, "I'm okay."_

That was a lie and they both knew it.

"Shit! Damn it all, Kagome, you got some of that poison in your system when you tended to my wounds didn't you?" At her weak nod he cursed some more and then said, "You shouldn't have done that Kagome, there had to be a way to get the paste on without getting the poison in your mouth right?"

She just shrugged and wheezed, trying to stand, only to fall back on one knee and nearly threw up at the vertigo and spinning world. Her muscles also didn't want to respond to her, and wouldn't even if she hadn't been dealing with all the other stuff as well.

Was it just her or was it getting really hot and hard to breath?

"We have to fight our way out Kagome, do you think you can ride on my back for just a little while?" Inuyasha urgently asked, already grabbing onto her arms, cutting off the restraints with his claws before twisting his body while still holding her arms, looping them over his neck as he backed up to get his back pressed against her front.

She nodded, frustrated by her weakness. She tightened her arms around his neck and grabbed fistfuls of his still loose shirt on either side. She shuffled forwards and since he was squatting in front of her she was able to hook her knees up onto his hips, her thighs trembling as he stood. Before, on the way to his village, she had no problem riding his back like this, but right now it took all her strength to stay on and she buried her face into his neck and hair, taking deep breaths and squeezing her eyes closed as she focused on just hanging on for dear life.

He wielded his sword, Tessaiga, mercilessly with one hand, his other gripping under one of her knees to help support her. He was running fast, and the violent motions of his sword swings nearly threw her off more than once and she gripped even harder, her arms and legs trembling violently now as she heaved for breath. Soon he was flying through the forest surrounding the camp. She almost didn't even realize he had slowed to a stop until his hands gripped her shaking forearms and gently pried them from around his neck and shoulders. She gasped, letting go, and immediately began to fall. Inuyasha, having exceptionally fast reflexes, reached his arm around behind him and grabbed her as he whipped his body around, neatly catching her and now holding her almost bridal style in his arms, cradled to his green, bloody, bare chest.

The fast movement and somewhat rough transition had her head spinning, which was not good for her sense of balance or her sense of wellbeing right now. She winced and rested her head against his chest, only to twitch and pull back somewhat at the feel of skin. She noted, with a great deal of relief, that now the poison was out of his system, his wounds were all almost healed.

"So why didn't you use that herb on yourself?" Inuyasha asked as he began running again, this time in the direction of where they had been before this whole capturing business. Hopefully the others had managed to escape and would be looking for them.

She mimed putting it on skin, and then mimed putting it in her mouth, only to shake her head, indicating that it was good as a poultice but not as something for ingested poison.

"Okay. So it wasn't good for poison you swallow. Is there another herb you know of that works for that?" His golden eyes peered down at her, looking mostly calm but there was a tenseness to them that betrayed how freaked out he really was.

She gathered what little mental faculties she had left available to her and managed to glance around, noting that luckily they were in the right type of forest for it. She guided him to the most likely place to find it by pointing, and eventually she spied some and gestured with some of the last of her strength.

They gathered a good deal of the stuff and then Inuyasha set off at top speed, planning to run all the way back to the village. Only an hour into the trip and Kagome passed out, which didn't bode well, and Inuyasha kicked it into top gear, tucking the herb into a pocket inside his robe for storage and then setting her down for a brief second to allow himself to transform. He could run much faster in his dog form. Once transformed, he very, very gently grabbed Kagome in his jaws, getting a hold of her bunched up yukata.

Once she was secure, he took off, pushing himself harder and faster than he ever remembered doing before. He had to get to the village.

However, he was given a lucky break when he happened across Sango on her way back from a scouting trip herself that she had taken with Kilala, her demon-cat. Smelling her through the thick scent of Kagome sort of clogging up his nose, since she was right there after all, he shifted course, kicking up a spray of dirt on the wide turn since he didn't slow down even a little. In fact, he was going just a tad too fast, and nearly had his paws slide out from under him, threatening to land him on his side, but he bunched up his hindquarters for extra push and then churned his paws while digging in his claws for extra traction, and somehow he managed to pull himself out of the skid. He was panting heavily around Kagome by now, and she was swinging around a little, but he strained his neck to try and keep her as steady as possible while the rest of him flailed around in the little impromptu stunt.

Thanks to whatever gods were looking out for him, he was able to find Sango within mere minutes after first scenting her, and he dashed at top speed towards her, only slowing once he was basically almost on top of her. Kilala, seeing him coming first, transformed into her much larger fierce lionic version of herself and grabbed Sango's clothes with her teeth before throwing them both back to avoid collision.

Inuyasha needed to perform a quick stop, without tossing himself head over ass, and so he threw his rear around in a fishtail and crouched, locking his muscles into place as his claws caught the ground and forced them to stop in a rather violent skid. He finally screeched to a halt in front of Sango, facing her thanks to the reversal of butt-to-head placement that had thrown him into that fishtail.

Not waiting for her to scold him on the rather dangerous greeting, he carefully placed Kagome on the ground, and Sango was instantly on her knees beside the other woman, asking what had happened as Kilala trotted up and nosed the passed out Kagome.

Thankfully, the other dog-demon had her camping gear, and as soon as she was apprised of the situation she instantly gave Inuyasha her cooking pot and set about laying out her sleeping futon for Kagome. Since he could now boil the herb to make a medicinal tea, which was the last thing she had been able to mime before passing out, there was no need to go all the way to the village. Inuyasha could tell time was of the essence, and so he transformed back, setting about making tea with a fierceness that seemed at odds with the activity.

The picture he portrayed: a demon in disarray, with his kosode and robe flapping open in the wind and his bare chest and stomach smeared in green still, not to mention dirt now, doing something as domestic and inane as making tea, but with wild eyes and gritted teeth, probably would have been highly humorous. Sango, when she glanced back to see this sight, would have laughed hysterically under any other circumstances, and could only hope that there would be a chance to laugh at it in retrospect. But the intensity with which he attacked the task only underscored how serious this situation was.

Inuyasha had no idea how he looked, nor did he give a flying fuck, all he cared about was getting that tea made as fast as demonly possible. As soon as he got a fire going he propped up a pot of water that had come from a water canteen Sango was thankfully also carrying. He got it boiling, with the aid of much cussing to hurry the fuck up, and dropped the herbs in to make her a tea like she had mimed to do. All the while, he glanced anxiously over at her as Sango hurried to make Kagome comfortable on her sleeping futon.

She didn't look too good, her skin flushed and wet with sweat, and she was panting and grimacing. Every so often a soft air-groan or gasp would come from her and Inuyasha's ears, which were swiveled towards her, would flinch and lay flat to his head for a second. For everyone there, the tea took longer than any other tea to steep, but eventually it was ready and Inuyasha ladled it into a cup and walked over to where Kagome was laying limp on the futon.

She, meanwhile, was utterly out of it, drifting in a sea of pain and weird shifting light and voices that she couldn't really understand. She gradually became aware of someone shaking her, and a very familiar voice calling to her. It was a voice that made her insides glow warmly, and she eased somewhat, her fear lessening at the confusing mess of nonsense. It was Inuyasha, she knew, and his name was formed on her lips with a sigh, which made her aware of her lips. Once she was more aware of her lips, she became more aware of her body, and that let her figure out how to peel her eyelids open, squinting and whimpering as the dim light of the setting sun made her head split wide open in a frantic headache.

The fuzzy outline of Inuyasha came more into focus as he leaned in closer, his face only inches from her own as his brightly glowing eyes flicked over her face with worry. Once he noticed her eyes were open he smiled with relief, though fear still shone brightly in his eyes, and he said, "Hey, you're awake. Good. Drink this, I made the tea like you showed me."

It took her a long moment to translate the words in her head, the sounds and movements of his lips not making sense at first. Her blank stare must have concerned him, because his mouth formed a snarl and fear sparked in his eyes even more, along with a brief flash of irritation that crinkled his eyebrows.

He grunted and his arm wrapped around her, looping under while his forearm laid along her spine. His hand came to rest under her head as he propped her up. She stayed limp and compliant in his grasp, the pain in her body preventing her from doing anything to help. The movement did seem to stir the pain more and it increased, making a fresh batch of sweat pop up on her skin. She wheezed a little, unable to help the pained sound from coming from her, and Inuyasha made some sort of sympathetic noise deep in the back of his throat.

Once she was up enough, the rim of a cup was pushed against her lips, and after a brief moment of confusion, Kagome figured out it was a cup and she was supposed to drink whatever was inside. She parted her lips and a bitter fluid filled her mouth, making her sputter and choke as the taste assaulted her tongue. She would have spit it out if Inuyasha hadn't set the cup down quickly and covered her mouth with that hand.

She stared up at him miserably.

"You need to swallow, Kagome. It will make you feel better." He said very slowly and carefully, exhibiting an exceptionally rare show of patience as he dealt with her poison-dulled mind.

The clear explanation, said so distinctly and slowly reached even her, and she swallowed, having to try several times before succeeding. Inuyasha's hand removed itself from her mouth and he pressed the cup back against her lips. She grimaced and obediently drank the nasty stuff, taking tiny sips this time.

He didn't admonish her for taking such small mouthfuls. Whatever it took for her to be able to get it down was fine with him, he was willing to sit here and hold her and the cup for as long as he needed to.

She managed to get down about half of the cup before she felt darkness creeping into her vision and her eyes started fluttering. Inuyasha noticed immediately and did his best to rouse her, trying desperately to get her to drink the last bit of tea, but it was no use because she was already out like a light.

He gritted his teeth and gently laid her back down, her limp head lolling to the side in a very disconcerting manner. Struggling to swallow the lump in his throat, he sat back on his haunches, just watching her sleep as he tried to figure out what to do to help. At this moment in time, there wasn't much that he could do though and he was left with just waiting and hoping she got enough of the antidote in her.

He parked himself right beside her, and stayed there awake and watching long after Sango and Kilala had passed out from exhaustion, falling asleep curled up together across the fire from Kagome.

And so he sat, waiting and watching as Kagome tossed her head from side to side, her teeth gritted and wheezes - which he had to assume were in place of pained groans - coming from her chest as she shivered in agony.

Kagome was indeed having a very not-fun time, and cried out into the darkness of her own mind, struggling to wake up from the nightmare she was stuck in. Nothing made sense; up was down and down was up, everything was dark and blurry, and everything radiated agony. She couldn't escape the burning pain, she couldn't get away from the heat of the fever now blasting her senses, she couldn't run from the crawling, aching feeling in her gut. She was lost in the abyss for endless moments.

She didn't know how long she was stuck there, but eventually she heard someone speaking to her again, that same voice that had pulled her out previously, and she was able to claw her way up out of the blackness. She groaned, and this time she could hear herself wheeze and feel it in her throat. That voice grew louder, and closer, and she felt someone lift her, a pair of arms tenderly sliding underneath her body and lifting her lax form upwards.

She managed to peel her eyes open, her eyelids trembling and uncooperative. She could see Inuyasha's face, swimming in and out of focus, and she saw his lips move and heard him speak to her again, but no longer had the ability to understand him. Her mind was still too shrouded in pain to have enough space for comprehension.

Once again he pressed the rim of the cup to her lips, and she vaguely remembered that she was supposed to drink. She tried her best, but her lips and tongue didn't want to cooperate with her and most of the liquid didn't make it into her mouth. She could only just make out a frown marring Inuyasha's features. There was some jostling as he rearranged her and then she felt something warm press against her lips. It took her a long moment to realize that it was another pair of lips pressed to hers, and that seemed very odd to her half-unconscious self. She wasn't sure why there was a pair of lips pressing against her mouth, or why they seemed to press and urge at the seam of her lips, as if trying to get her to open her mouth. Dazed and confused, her lips parted of their own accord, and suddenly the other mouth was pressing closer, and then a thin, carefully directed stream of fluid was flowing into her mouth. Only a little bit of the nasty liquid entered before she sputtered and it threatened to escape from the corners of her mouth.

The other mouth, which she slowly realized belonged to Inuyasha, drew back, and he closed her mouth gently with his free hand, stroking her throat with a finger to try and get her to swallow. She managed to swallow and not choke on the liquid, and no sooner had it gone down than he was back at her lips, his own begging hers to part and let him deposit some more medicine in her mouth. She obliged, something within her flushing with joy, though buried underneath so much pain and discomfort that she barely was able to feel it at all. She was so fuzzy in the head that she barely even knew what he was doing or why he was doing it.

It wasn't until the she had nearly swallowed the rest of the tea that she grew a little more conscious, realizing more of what was going on. There was some embarrassment, and also some giddiness as she acknowledged it, but again, it was difficult to concentrate on the happy thoughts when her body felt like it was melting, and not in a good way. She wasn't able to do anything other than participate in the mouth to mouth feeding of medicine, since her body still wasn't really working and her mouth almost felt numb. She could still feel, but her mouth didn't respond to the commands she sent it, so she was helpless but to accept the fact that his lips pressed against hers again and again, coaxing her mouth to part with both his lips and a thumb on her jaw.

She felt another warmth build up within her. It was a pleasant heat, though not one of excitement since her body was utterly incapable of that at the moment, but one of intense emotion. She could feel her chest burn in a way completely different to the burning in her gut from the poison. It felt like she had a hot poker in her chest, but one that oddly caused no pain, only intense warmth and pressure. She felt like crying, and perhaps she was, but since her eyes had already been watering from the pain it was impossible to tell which tears were happy and which were tortured. In an odd way she wished she could stay like this, stay in this one single bright burning moment where Inuyasha was kissing her. But of course he wasn't really kissing her, a fact that was repeatedly reminded in her dull brain when the noxious liquid flowed from his mouth into hers.

Soon he had fed her the rest of the tea, and he gently set her back down to lay on the sleeping bag. He left then, and she rolled her head to the side wearily to watch him, desperate to hang onto consciousness and not sink back into that abyss of nothing but pain. She watched him blearily as he set about pouring more tea into the mug, her mind not really able to comprehend what it was he was doing, but watching him anyway.

He soon returned to her and sat beside her, speaking to her in low, hushed, gentle tones. Though she couldn't understand what he was saying, she appreciated the tone of his voice and let it lull her into a more relaxed, slightly asleep state. She was able to rest, but not pass out, and the pain slowly began to ease. Soon he was urging her back to semi-awake and was trying to get her to drink more tea. This time she was able to sip it from the cup, having a little more use of her lips, and she mourned the loss of his mouth against hers. It was perhaps masochistic of her to wish he would continue to give her the medicine in that way, since the memories would only haunt her later, but in her weakened state she couldn't lie to herself about her base desires. And at the root of her, really one of her biggest desires now was simply to touch and be touched by Inuyasha.

She still relished the warmth of his arms as he held her up to help her drink, and when he laid her back this time she somehow managed to command her limp hand to snag his, for a brief moment. Her fingers weren't able to hold onto him though, and her hand began to slide out of his almost as soon as it made contact, but was caught and held when his own fingers wrapped around hers. He had apparently been able to interpret her request correctly, and he held her hand tenderly, coming to sit beside her as he did so. She smiled, humming air almost contentedly as she slipped back into a daze, the pain still bad, but much better than before. She was unaware that her throat and mouth formed his name, whispering it several times as she rested.

 _Several hours passed~_

Once she had recovered somewhat, they carried her back to the village and to Kaede, who promptly asked what had happened upon seeing Kagome's unconscious form in Inuyasha's arms. They explained as she hustled them all inside her hut, laying Kagome down on a pallet. Inuyasha showed Kaede the herb he had used to make the tea and she nodded in approval.

"Good, she should be doing much better then. I'll mix up a stronger antidote to help get the last dregs of poison out of her system."

She indeed prepared an antidote, and fed it to Kagome, and slowly the younger woman began to relax, little by little. Inuyasha stayed by her side, even despite the protests of his Alpha, who seemed to find his presence in her hut a bit unbecoming of the young man. She quickly gave up though, seeing how devoted he was to Kagome. Frankly, seeing Inuyasha act this concerned about anyone had Kaede smiling, secretly of course since he would freak out if he saw her curved lips.

She slept in her private back room while Kagome and Inuyasha stayed in the front room, near the fire and pot of antidote. Since Inuyasha was here anyways, she gave him the task of making sure he kept feeding it to her, and hid her smile under her palm as he almost looked relieved at being able to actively help in her recovery.

With Kaede's antidote Kagome recovered swiftly.

She was out for the entirety of the next day, but little by little she regained her normal color and stopped shivering. The thin film of sweat that had been constantly produced finally dried on her skin, making it sticky and almost mildly crusty in some places where it had built up, like around her temples. Seeing another way to put Inuyasha to work, Kaede gave him a clean wet cloth and told him to gently clean Kagome's face, which he seemed only too happy to do.

While he was absorbed with the task she gave to him, she took the opportunity to observe, trying to decide if the young demon male had finally found himself a mate. As often was the case, a proper match could take very little time to determine, and Kaede had seen some demons meet and then claim each other as mates within as little as a day, though those cases were rather rare. These two young ones were both of mating age, right around the time when they would both be seeking their life-long partner.

Inuyasha had been utterly disinterested in the other females in Kaede's pack, only showing a modicum of interest in Kikyo. She had been the only one it seemed that he had been considering as a potential mate, but despite being sort of "together" for almost two years now, he had never made a move, as if he was holding himself back.

To be honest, the old female Alpha had been concerned for her young scout, having worried that he would eventually even be forced to leave the pack to find a mate. It had seemed he had been in the process of that almost. Before he had brought Kagome back, he had been leaving on longer and longer trips, probably unconsciously seeking for a potential mate, and Kaede had worried that one day he simply wouldn't return.

For dog-demons such as them, mates were for forever, and were something that, while not being necessary, did seem to provide for a much happier demon in the long run. Dog-demons were social creatures, and could be rather lustful, and so not having a proper mate could cause quite a bit of aggression and disease in a young male or female, especially right around these two's age. For any Alpha, one of the main concerns about the young in their pack was about whether they would find mates, or if they would go rogue. It was unfortunate, but one reason why finding a mate could be so important was due to the fact that mating season would eventually hit them one year, and after that things could potentially go down-hill for the young demon.

Going into heat could cause a young demon without a mate to go insane, which might cause them to attack others nearly indiscriminately. They would be violent towards those of the same sex, while pursuing those of the opposite in a violent manner, and the worst situation possible would be for one of those young demons to go berserk in the pack. Kaede didn't have to worry too much about most of the pack, since most of them weren't warriors. As with most demon packs, there were the common village folk, those who didn't have any powers to speak of, and then there were the warriors who protected the rest of the pack. And so, with the majority of her young, unattached males and females, if they went into heat she would simply lock them up for that entire time, preventing them from doing any harm to themselves or others.

Inuyasha however … he would have been a problem. She honestly didn't think she had the power to hold him, nor did she think that any of the other warriors in her pack had the power to. He was a power-house, not that she would ever say that to his face, but the fact remained that if he went into heat without a mate, he could have very likely destroyed the entire village. She would have been forced to perhaps even banish him at the first hint of heat-scent.

So, she was very hopeful as she watched him interact with this new young female. It seemed he had grown extremely attached to her, and she seemed just as responsive to him, more-so even. It was blatantly obvious that she already was pursuing him as a mate.

Smiling once again, Kaede turned away, to give the two some privacy.

* * *

Author's Note:

Here it is! The new chapter. :3

I hope it met everyone's expectations. We had a little more excitement, a daring rescue, and even some tender fluff. I also hope everyone found the information on mates interesting as well. ;)

So, how long do you think it's gonna take for Koga to make another appearance?

As always, a big, huge warm hug to all my wonderful reviewers out there. You guys are the thing that keeps me writing. :D


	12. Chapter 12

Kagome woke the next day, fully recovered and perfectly healthy thanks to her wonderful new demon constitution. Her happiness was short-lived though, as she found out that she had been passed out for a whole day, which was yet another day that had been wasted. Time was running out. Now she only had barely more than one more week to complete the contract.

As it turned out, that one day of recovery was all that she was going to get, because no sooner had her bumps and bruises healed than another attack happened, the wolves apparently supremely ticked off at Inuyasha for destroying their camp and single-handedly injuring, or killing, a large percentage of their pack.

The leader, Koga, came roaring into the village on a whirlwind, startling everyone. Kagome froze in the act of drawing water and turned to watch as the wolf-demon screeched to a halt in the center of the village.

"DOGS! Hear me! I come for the hide of one known as INUYASHA! He attacked and destroyed much of our camp…therefore we have come to return the favor!"

Kagome gasped and her head whipped around, hearing the thundering of approaching feet. Koga had been followed by a frightening number of wolf-demons, and quite a few regular wolves too. Among the wolves Kagome could easily pick out the wolf-demons that had been born in wolf form from the regular wolves, because they were significantly bigger than the others. Their eyes also glowed and their claws and fangs were longer, sharper, and more dangerous.

Abruptly the village was overrun by wolves as Koga howled, signaling all-out war. All the young scrambled to escape into the woods, but the wolves pursued even them, ruthless in their bloodlust and desire for revenge.

Kagome dropped her bucket and grabbed her weapon, notching an arrow and letting lose as several of the wolves approached her. She found herself in a flurry, reloading and letting fly arrow after arrow, trying not to actually kill anyone but seriously wound them enough to make them retreat. She kept that up for a time, but soon was distracted by the sound of a familiar voice crying out. She spun, smacking a nearby wolf with her bow itself as she looked around for the source of the noise.

Her eyes landed on a flash of orange and her eyes widened. Shippō had gathered all the children and was in the process of trying to herd them all out of the village in an orderly and quick manner, all while also fending off the incoming demons with fox fire and all manner of odd toys and illusions. The flashy fox magic had unfortunately served to draw even more attention, and while the dog children scrambled into the cover of trees, Shippō was soon overwhelmed by a mass of plain wolves and several much larger demon wolves, all with gaping jaws.

Overwhelmed by a surge of rage and motherly instinct, Kagome shrieked, silently of course, and loaded two arrows at once, packing them with every ounce of power she had. Both her demon and priestess powers made the shafts glow brightly and they shot forward with deadly aim and streams of power. They blazed a path through the wolf bodies, tossing them every which way and the entire pile went flying through the air as the two arrows landed protectively on either side of a shaky, bruised, and bloody Shippō.

When some of the wolves regathered themselves and looked in her direction, she loaded another arrow, and then saw the glowing eyes of more wolves coming from the trees behind the children. Unable to shout and warn them, she instead shot her arrow, ignoring the wolves now headed in her direction and aiming for the wolves closing in on the children, the arrow blazed through the air, arching over Shippō who turned to watch it land in the trees. There was a pause and then the burst of power sounded like a bomb, sending a blast of light through the trees and a backlash of power so strong that it knocked all the children back away from the treeline while felling several large trees onto the scattered wolves.

Shippō quickly saw the threat and yelled at the other kids to get away from the forest.

Meanwhile, Kagome was a bit busy, the other wolves almost on her now.

A ways away, Sango turned in Kagome's direction, seeing the first blast of light. She dispatched the wolves near her and ran for the flashy lights, worried that some sort of fire had been set. As she skidded to a halt she watched in amazement as a glowing arrow flew over her head, landing in the woods and sending wolves and trees flying. Her head whipped back around to see Kagome wielding the bow that had shot them and she blinked, shocked.

Kilala squeaked in distress, still in her small form at the moment, sitting on Sango's shoulder.

Sango blinked, seeing that there were wolves running directly at Kagome, and she had just used her last arrow to defend the children. She started for them, wielding her Hiraikotsu and knocking the last few wolves away.

Meanwhile, Kilala was faster, zipping to Kagome's side in a heartbeat.

Besieged by wolves on every side, Kagome whacked a few aside with her bow and then reached back, feeling for another arrow. A wave of cold panic came over her when she realized that she had no more. Gritting her teeth, she smacked off another one and then slashed the next with her claws. Still, there were just too many and she was knocked off her feet. She cried out silently as one latched onto her shoulder and she blindly clawed at where she assumed its eyes to be. She felt fur and warm wetness and a howl sounded in her ear as the fangs released her.

As she knelt, managing to get herself levered up onto her elbow at least, whacking another wolf off in the process, she gripped her shoulder and watched the next wave of wolves, grateful that at least she didn't seem to be up against the stronger humanoid ones…for now.

Even so, she was pretty much a goner if she couldn't get these wolves off her, because without any arrows she would need to transform, and she didn't even know if she could with all these distractions. She'd probably be dead way before she accomplished it. As she pondered her coming demise, she was distracted by a squeak on the ground in front of her and a blur of tan fur flashed in front of her face as she winced and leaned on her other elbow.

She felt her stomach drop out and her heart replace it with a ball of horror as she took in the tiny form of Kilala standing protectively in front of her downed body.

She whispered desperately for the tiny cat to get away, terrified that she was about to be torn apart.

But to her shock, instead, as the next wolf came at them at a dead run, a burst of flame appeared in front of her and with a bone-jarring roar, Kilala transformed into a much larger, much more dangerous version of herself.

Kagome gasped, staring up at her in shock.

"Kagome! Leave these guys to us! Go help the kids!"

Her head jerked around at Sango's voice. The dark haired woman was coming towards her at a run, her ears pinned flat and her fangs bared as she took out wolves left and right with her enormous weapon. She skidded to a halt and hefted Kagome to her feet.

"You okay?"

Kagome nodded and Sango nodded back, eyeing her bloody shoulder for a second before setting to taking out the enemy around them.

As soon as she was clear to do so, Kagome set off at a dead run, putting her pain to the back of her mind for the time being. She grabbed up any fallen arrows she spied on the ground or in wolf bodies on her way towards the huddled children. Shippō had surrounded them in a sphere of fox fire, which was holding off the enemy for the time being.

She smacked aside the wolves between her and the children with her bow, using an arrow in her fist to stick holes in them as she went, sending them to run off into the woods to lick their wounds.

"Kagome!" Shippō yelled with relief as he saw her approaching.

She skidded to a halt in front of them, baring her teeth at the remaining wolves fiercely, daring them to try anything. They hesitated, seeing a mother's rage making her eyes burn at them with fury, the palpable emotion nearly vibrating the air around her. Every demon knew that a mom protecting her young was the fiercest and most terrifying force in the world, and so even they faltered.

That only lasted for a moment though as a voice cracked through the temporary silence. "Oi! Attack! Do you think Koga's gonna go easy on you if he finds out you were slacking?"

Kagome turned to see a guy with an odd looking Mohawk come running around the nearest building. The wolves all set to attack again, and Kagome growled silently, smacking them aside and then loading an arrow, letting it blast through the thick of them, sending furry bodies flying through the air. Any who were lucky enough to land on their feet scooted off at top speed with their tails between their legs to put some distance between them and her.

The rest backed off again and she was faced with the humanoid demon.

At that moment, Sango and Kilala finished off their wolves and darted over to Kagome. The reinforcements helped to ward off the remaining few wolves and even the humanoid seemed to take pause. Thankfully there weren't that many kids to protect, and Kilala was big enough now that they could all fit on her back. Sango set to lifting them and placing them on her stripy back while Kagome held a bow drawn and ready, pointing at the remaining enemy. She bared her teeth at them as a silent growl vibrated her chest, feeling her ears pin back against her skull in anger.

The humanoid wolf-demon huffed and finally said, "Oh whatever, they're just kids anyways, let 'em go."

The wolves all looked at him and then followed as he turned and ran off back into the thick of the ongoing battles in the village.

"Kagome! Come on, let's go!"

She turned to see Kilala hovering in the air and Kagome blinked, shocked once again. She shook off the amazement and then shook her head no to the offered hand up onto Kilala's back. She had to go find Inuyasha.

She pointed back towards the village and mimed looking for someone with her hand over her eyes, figuring that Sango would instantly know who she was looking for. As expected the other woman caught on quick and nodded, saying, "Go find Inuyasha, Kagome."

Shippō was looking at her pleadingly though, big fat tears starting to well up in his eyes, obviously wanting her to come with him. "Please don't go Kagome, you might not…you might…y-you…"

Dashing over to give him a quick hug and kiss to his head, she looked him strait in the eye and mouthed, _"I promise to come back."_

He blinked, his bottom lip quivering a bit, but then he wiped his eyes and nodded, a look of determination spreading across his face. He was being brave for her and she could feel her chest swell with pride. Giving him one more quick kiss, she turned and headed back for the village.

As she left, Sango called out, "Don't worry, we'll get the kids to safety."

Kagome smiled thankfully over her shoulder and waved for good luck. Sango waved back and they set off.

Kagome tore through the village, swatting aside wolves and the occasional humanoid enemy as she searched for Inuyasha. She caught a glance of Kikyo fending off hordes of demons with a bow and arrows like her, and she saw similar arrows shooting in the distance, and assumed that must be Kaede. As she ran by, she didn't notice Kikyo spot her, or begin to tail her.

She skidded to a halt near Miroku when she spotted him and desperately clapped her hands to get his attention. Once he looked at her, she hurried to make a searching motion with her hand, smacking aside an enemy with her other.

"Looking for Inuyasha? He's over there!" Miroku gestured and Kagome mouthed _"thanks"_ before taking off to find him.

She ran flat out in the direction indicated, ignorant of her now rather irritable and jealous stalker. Rounding a corner she ran smack dab into Kikyo and only just managed to stop her forward momentum in enough time to stop herself from slamming into the other woman.

She gasped and threw herself backwards to put some space between them. With just one glance she could tell the other woman was steaming mad, but she couldn't care at the moment, she was too busy being worried about Inuyasha.

When she tried to step around Kikyo, she was stopped by a bow buffeting her about the head.

Holding her now sore noggin she gave the other woman a highly perturbed questioning look to say _"what the hell was that for?!"_

"Tell me this, what is Inuyasha to you?" Kikyo asked, sounding not at all perturbed that they were in the middle of all-out war.

Kagome gaped, shocked that this dumb-ass woman was pulling a stupid stunt like this now of all times. She lit into her, mouthing all sorts of words and sentences, most of which had to do with the utterly inappropriate nature of such a question right now, along with asking if Kikyo had happened to notice all the fucking WOLVES?!

"You should know that I intend to make him my mate."

Once again, Kagome was left bug-eyed and flabbergasted, utterly shocked by this woman's insistence.

She waved her hands around wildly, indicating the chaos surrounding them, hoping Kikyo would snap out of whatever insanity had gripped her. When the other woman showed no sign of realizing how stupid she was being and continued to just stare at her, Kagome gave up on talking sense into her.

She didn't have time for this.

Feinting left, she darted around on the right side, making to run across the courtyard in front of her at top speed. She ignored the sound of an explosion coming from behind her and off to the side. She just kept running as fast as she could, hoping that maybe Kikyo had regained some sense and was now fighting whatever had caused that explosion.

But then, she was forced once again to skid to a halt as she felt something latch onto her leg from behind, pain spearing into her calf.

Her body went crashing face first into the dirt. Spitting out a mouthful of earth, she levered herself off the ground swiftly, craning her neck to look back over her shoulder, swinging her bow wildly. She felt it make contact and then heaved herself to her feet. She stared, shocked and horrified as she took in the sight of three enormous, disgusting demon-insects of some sort now swarming through the courtyard.

"I will be the one to fight by Inuyasha's side."

Kagome whirled back around, seeing Kikyo leaving the courtyard in front of her. She snarled silently and went to go after her, but was stopped by the sound of many skittering feet coming from behind. She was forced to spin and shoot an arrow into the sudden malevolence, wondering where the heck they had come from.

As she fought them off, she noticed that there was a door hanging off its hinges, a door that seemed to lead to some sort of strong house, being one of the few buildings made of stone in this village. But upon closer inspection she could see a well set into it and blinked, wondering why that particular well had been locked off like that. It seemed the demons had come from within there, although it didn't really make all that much sense.

Meanwhile, a few brief moments earlier, Miroku had felt Kagome's nearby spiritual pressure get insanely wonky, indicating great emotional distress. Fearing he had sent her to her death, he swiftly used his golden staff to smack the wolf trying to gnaw on him aside, before managing to break away and leap onto the nearest roof, making for where he could smell and sense Kagome was at the moment.

And then he screeched to a halt on the roof, bearing witness to something he would have never expected to see.

He stared in shock and horror from his perch, watching as Kikyo shot the warded and locked door to the shrine around the Bone Eater's Well with an arrow, breaking it open.

There was a good reason for it being so solidly guarded. That well had a mystical ability to bring simple demons back from the dead. It was sporadic, and contained hundreds of bones, but every so often it would spit out single large demons, hordes of small demons, or any mix and match of the two. They were little more than mindless killing zombies, but they caused plenty of trouble.

The stone barrier around the well helped to keep the demons in, and also was carved with sutras to prevent them spawning in the first place, but with the doors blasted open, the barrier had been broken. With all this chaotic energy from the battle going on, it was no surprise that several large demons had already been summoned forth, and the first priority had to be to close those doors as soon as possible.

Why Kikyo would stoop so low to apparently try and hinder Kagome, Miroku couldn't hope to understand, but it was the only reason possible for her actions, unless she was hoping these new demons would fight off the invading wolves.

Sure, they would attack the wolves, but they would attack the dogs as well. It was only going to get messier now. Kikyo must have been consumed with jealousy and not thinking clearly to make such a rash and dangerous choice.

Meanwhile, set upon by the centipede demons, Kagome found herself overwhelmed again and dragged to the ground against her will. For a moment she wildly thought, _this is it, this is how I'm gonna die_ , but before she could succumb she heard two voices she recognized. One was Miroku and the other was Inuyasha.

Soon the demons were torn off her.

She groaned silently and peeled herself off the ground, spitting out dirt and blood as she did.

"Kagome! Are you okay?" Inuyasha asked, looking her over.

She winced and shrugged.

"What the hell happened here? What the fuck were those and where did they come from? Hey, why is the well door hanging off its hinges?"

"Kikyo let them go to prevent Kagome here from getting to you first."

Inuyasha froze and turned to look at Miroku. "Wait…what? There's no way Kikyo would do that. She knows as good as us that opening those doors would release who the fuck knows what. That's the last thing we need right now."

Miroku shrugged. "I saw her shoot an arrow at the door and it came apart. But maybe I'm wrong about why she did it."

"Huh," Inuyasha grunted, "Well, whatever the case, we've got bigger things to worry about now. You guys get that door closed!"

Meanwhile, he set off at a run, in pursuit of the demons that had escaped.

Summarily, they once again split up, Inuyasha running off after the centipedes while Miroku tried to repair the door and Kagome stood watch, arrow cocked and ready, pointing at the well in case another ugly bugger tried to sneak out. Sure enough, there was a creepy scraping sound coming from within the well and Kagome widened her stance, waiting until she saw a long hairy black limb poke over the lip of the well before shooting an arrow. The resulting blast severed the limb and caused whatever its owner was to drop back into the shaft with a godawful screech.

"Hold on! Just a little…bit…more…There!" Miroku said. "Move, Kagome!"

She slid to the side as Miroku slammed the door closed, the hinges creaking but holding fast thankfully.

"Quick! We need to find something to lock this."

She nodded and grabbed up a nearby metal bar that had been broken off a building as Miroku braced the doors closed. She returned and they shoved the bar through the cross beam sections of the lock and bolt, the bolt having been blasted to pieces. From his sleeves, Miroku brought out a few sutras on paper and slapped them on the doors to help seal them shut with spiritual energy as well and hopefully stop the production of demons.

Just as they were breathing a sigh of relief, they both heard a pained yell coming from the direction Inuyasha had run off to, followed by a loud bang and some very disturbing and concerning noises.

Sharing a look, they took off at a run, dodging around several small fights on the way. Soon they skidded to a halt, seeing dog-form Inuyasha flying through the air. Their heads followed him and then they winced in unison as his white furry form smashed into a nearby wall, nearly taking the whole hut out with him. There were bits of centipede everywhere, and apparently he had taken those out, but it had cost him somewhat. They could see he had been chewed up pretty good, judging by the deep wounds that were definitely not wolf-made.

He had run into even more trouble, Koga having found him in a weakened state. The wolf-demon pack leader was now proceeding to beat the ever living daylights out of him, assisted by the majority of the remaining wolf-demons it seemed. They had all coalesced here, for the sole purpose of taking out Inuyasha.

Koga wasn't playing fair, this wasn't a one-on-one battle, this was a down and dirty brawl where a mob destroyed a single opponent. It wasn't surprising that they singled out Inuyasha, especially since Koga had said from the very get-go that his goal was to pulverize Inuyasha. But still, Kagome had the sudden realization of the bigger picture. This had been their plan all along, to beat the whole village up and then target Inuyasha only after everyone else was lying on the ground elsewhere, unconscious and unable to help.

They had nearly succeeded too, Kagome had seen very few villagers who were still standing, most of them having already fled.

She had noticed that this pack was composed of demons who were mostly passive, the large majority of them being non-powerful, common demons who were simple villagers, not warriors. Of course all demons possessed the ability to fight, but she had learned that, as with humans, there were some who were specially trained to fight and those who were not. Apparently it took a great deal of power to even transform into a full demon form, and the large majority of the dog pack didn't have that power. In fact, most of them weren't even trained in how to wield a weapon very well.

This was a peaceful pack, a peaceful village, a small out of the way home that had never before been targeted directly like this.

All the attacking demons were warriors, and they had plowed through the pack of dog-demons easily, all the old and young being easily defeated and all the able demons mostly also easily defeated. Really, the only demons in this pack who were warriors were Sango, Kilala, Miroku, Kohaku, Kaede, Kikyo, and Inuyasha of course.

Kikyo was nearby, shooting arrows at the demons and felling them left and right, but she couldn't take them all down and she was refusing to transform.

"Shit! I can't suck them in or I'll get Inuyasha!"

Kagome glanced at Miroku as he cussed.

She had recently found out that he had the power to summon a dark void, one that could suck in numerous enemies, but it took enormous power to maintain and control, and if he overdid it he could lose control of it and suck in himself and anyone near him. She quickly realized he was helpless to assist other than simply wading into the battle with his golden staff and sutras, which he quickly did as he reached the same conclusion.

Despite his big trump card move, Miroku didn't have the specific power to transform. For that matter, neither did Sango or Kohaku. Kaede could and so could Kikyo, but apparently she never did, finding it distasteful or something.

Well, Kaede wasn't here to help, and frankly neither were any of the others, so it was up to them.

To their shock and horror, a wolf managed to sneak up behind Kikyo while she was shooting three wolves off Inuyasha, and she was felled, a slashing blow taking her out, and she collapsed to the ground. She had taken out a good number of the demons, holding them off of Inuyasha as he regrouped, but there were still a good few left and now they were unfettered and attacked. Inuyasha knocked them off but staggered, obviously already exhausted and largely wounded.

Miroku hustled in to try and help but quickly met with resistance.

To her dismay, Kagome saw Koga plow through his pack and then kicked Inuyasha right in the face, sending him flying once again to crack into the wall, making the building crumble and large chunks of lumber and roofing fell on top of him.

Kagome was already moving before she knew it, running to try and help him.

He crawled out of the rubble, coughing and shaking blood from his eyes as he did. No sooner had he freed himself than he was set upon fresh, one wolf coming in to bite his flank, making him flinch, bark, and whirl, snapping at the offending demon. He was snarling and his fur was standing upright, making him look downright feral. He bit and growled and whirled round and round, snapping at all the wolves coming at him, but he could only handle so much and soon Koga had him flying through the air with another devastating kick.

This time it took him a moment to get up and the wolves took advantage, several mouths biting down on bits of flesh, forcing a howl from his throat as Koga approached. He grinned maliciously and picked up Inuyasha's discarded sword, swishing it through the air.

"Killed by your own blade…a fitting end for a filthy mutt like you."

Kagome saw all this happening in bits and pieces, finding herself blocked at every turn by another wolf.

It was starting to get old, and Kagome found herself getting more and more desperate, panic and rage fighting for dominance inside her. When she saw him pinned to the ground with his own sword approaching to deal a doubtless final blow, she lost it.

She didn't know how it happened.

One minute she was blocked by a wolf, the next she felt a blast of pain sear her nerves and a silent scream tore her throat open. She heard Miroku yell, and then she felt teeth in her neck, ripping, and a choking sensation as she choked on her own blood, but that was soon replaced.

Her body buckled and then was suddenly growing, in the span of a second she burst from one form to another. The jaws of the unfortunate wolf were split apart as her neck suddenly expanded without warning within his jaws and he fell away.

She landed on all four paws running, leaving shreds of clothing behind.

A sound was coming from her, nothing human, nothing demon, nothing dog, something from the throat of a creature that had no vocal cords. It wasn't exactly a growl, at least not one that would normally be issued from a dog's throat. Instead, it was something from her chest and mouth, a spitting, wheezing snarl that sent chills even down her spine, but she didn't really have a chance to linger on it.

She ran at full tilt, her body finally responding to her. She didn't have time to wonder at the marvel of her new body though, she was too busy plowing a line through the wolf demons that stood in her way between her and Inuyasha. When one popped up, she latched her jaws around his muzzle and tossed him aside, another one came and she slashed him with a clawed paw, a humanoid one tried to leap on her back and ride her, but she launched herself face-first at the dirt, did a doggy tumble and kept going without losing any momentum, leaving him on the ground.

She reached Koga right as he was raising the weapon and body-slammed him, knocking him away from Inuyasha. She promptly then proceeded to jump on top of said white dog, landing with a paw on either side of him, and summarily ripped the wolves off, kicking one off with a hind paw while grabbing another in her teeth, clamping down until she felt a crunch and iron blood filled her mouth. The body went limp and she spun with it still clamped in her jaws, using it to knock off another as she let it go. The last one released Inuyasha and skidded back as she turned to face him, blood dripping from her fangs.

She stepped off as she felt Inuyasha's furry body rise beneath her. He staggered to the side and slumped a bit, still obviously shaken.

"Urg…what the…fucking…ow…." She heard him grunt.

Koga had regrouped by now. "Oi! Who are you?! I didn't think there were any more dogs who could transform in this pack!"

She turned and faced him. Her paw landed on the ground with so much force that the dirt cracked a little beneath it. She glared at him and felt her ears lay flat against her head as she bared her teeth in the fiercest snarl she could manage. Slowly she felt the oddest prickly sensation on her neck and back and realized that her hair was slowly standing on end. Even her tail prickled as the fur on it bushed out.

Koga stepped forward, scowling. "Geeze what the fuck's wrong with you dude, I mean he's just a lame half-breed, would have thought you'd be grateful…wait…" He sniffed the air. "You ain't a dude, you're a girl! Shit, didn't know this dumbass had a mate…fuck."

"Wha…what the hell's he talking about…Kagome?!"

She glanced back to see Inuyasha finally on his four paws, and he stared at her in shock, his golden eyes wide and his ears pricked forward.

"Kagome?! That's Kagome? Damn! Didn't realize she could transform! Well, babe, sorry, but you're gonna have to get outta the way, or else I'll have to take you down with Inuyasha."

Her head whipped back around and she felt that weird spitting, snarling, wheezing sound emit from her chest again. Her mouth opened and the most horrifying noise came from her, a weird snarl that really sounded more like the ferocious hiss of a big cat than anything that should come from a dog. It hurt her throat that was for sure.

"…hell that's freaky…" Koga muttered under his breath giving her heebie-jeebie eyes.

She heard Inuyasha grunt something similar from behind her.

There were only a handful left, they could take them. Miroku seemed to think the same thing because from the back of the group he yelled, "Wind tunnel!" and suddenly there was a fierce gale, which sent Kagome scrambling backwards. Inuyasha dug his claws into the ground and grabbed her ruff in his mouth yanking her back a little further so they could hunker down against the wall. She yelped air and slid back on her butt, not expecting the sharp pinching sensation on the back of her neck.

Miroku managed to suck in a few of the remainders.

Even so, Koga wasn't quite done yet, with a few really nasty oaths he yelled the charge and the whole rest of the remaining enemy forces came at them in mass. Kagome found herself having to fight tooth and nail, literally, to survive. She and Inuyasha got separated. One latched onto her tail, making her whirl around to claw him off, and another got her on her exposed flank, hitting hard enough to topple her off balance. She ended up with a nose full of dirt as she did a face-plant. She managed to roll onto her side, right in time for someone to land on top of her, going for her neck again. She scrambled onto her back, her front paws slashing at the chest of the wolf demon on top of her while her hind paws managed to get purchase on his belly. She finally kicked him off, and then lunged to her feet, meeting the next attack head on.

Her claws met fur as she barreled into an enemy. They went rolling across the ground and she latched her teeth into the back of his neck, bringing him with her and completing the motion, coming up with enough force to toss him a distance with the hold she had on him. Then she flinched and spun on her heel as she felt pain rake across her back. Her spread claws sliced into the enemy that had snuck up on her and he fell away.

Soon she found herself standing amidst fallen bodies and a call sounded for retreat. All the still living wolves limped and dragged themselves after their injured Alpha, and Kagome let them leave unmolested. In fact she was relieved to see that the large majority of fallen wolves and wolf demons were still alive and the unconscious ones were hauled out on the shoulders of their comrades. Even the dead were dragged away to be buried.

Kagome watched them go, mostly just sad now that so much blood had been shed.

* * *

Author's Note:

And here it is! That's the last we'll see of Koga I do believe. And something really has to be done about Kikyo. I hope everyone enjoyed this epic battle, I know I enjoyed writing it. :D

As always reviews are welcomed and appreciated. Thank you to everyone who has done so thus far, all of you guys are amazing and wonderful. *insert fancy fireworks*


	13. Chapter 13

"Damn, Kagome, that was some fine fighting back there. Looks like you finally mastered that technique."

She turned to see Inuyasha approaching, back in human form. She would have followed suite, but at the moment she was so exhausted the thought didn't even occur to her.

He was distracted though, when Miroku came running up.

"We should gather all the injured together and find Kaede!"

They all nodded and set off to determine the level of damage sustained. Thankfully it seemed the large majority of villagers had been able to escape, but there were a good few who had been injured and several very unlucky mortalities. Kaede thankfully had managed to make it relatively unscathed aside from a few really nasty bruises and shallow cuts, but it seemed she was in decent enough shape to help patch up all the worse wounds. So she set about tending to the injured.

Kagome on the other hand, found herself slinking away to tend to her own wounds in private, finding it kind of humiliating that she had sustained so many. It just went to show how weak she truly was, and on top of it all, she wasn't even sure she could transform back.

So, weak with exhaustion, pained and aching, she limped off into the woods to find a nice quiet little cave where she could mope and lick her wounds properly.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was busy confronting Kikyo.

"Kikyo! Oi! Kikyo!" When he finally got her attention, he strode right over and stood toe to toe with her, his arms crossed and a deep scowl etched across his brows.

"So! What's this I hear about you breaking the well doors?"

Kikyo looked away serenely, looking unconcerned, but Inuyasha could tell she was perturbed by the way her hand clenched.

"So, did ya or didn't ya?"

She still didn't respond, only turning and walking away without a word, which, in Inuyasha's mind, meant "yes".

He stood there, staring at her retreating back in shock. He hadn't really believed she would do that, but here was the evidence staring him in the face. If she hadn't committed the crime, she would have just said so… whereas not saying anything was the equivalent of admitting her guilt.

He had no idea if what Miroku said was true, if she had done it out of some kind of weird… _jealousy_ or something against Kagome. Which reminded him, where was Kagome anyway? She had disappeared shortly after gathering up the injured and hadn't shown herself since, and that had been several hours ago.

Setting off to find her, he quickly picked up her scent and began tracking.

Unaware of the fact that she was now being tracked, Kagome continued on, attempting to find some sort of mope-worthy shelter.

She limped a good ways before she found a satisfactory cave, a shallow thing set into the face of a short cliff. It was almost more of a simple depression in the rock rather than an actual cave, but the brush heavily growing in front of it, laden with thick vines on top of that, made it nearly invisible and well protected. She only saw it out of happenstance.

Crawling under the bushes, she found a nice sized small hollow, the bush being rather surprisingly tall and sloped on the inside, probably since the bush itself had grown quite big, all the little branches on the inside snapping off long ago. What she was left with was a nice canopy that covered the depression in the rock and she easily settled down in the little den, finding the bed of leaves quite comfortable. She only wished she had the ability to make a fire with her paws, because it was getting pretty chilly. The nights had been frosty lately, thick layers of the stuff coating all the leaves in the mornings and taking nearly till noon to melt off.

She set about taking stock of her wounds, and instinctively started licking the wounds she could get to. It was awkward and with her broken tongue it made things a bit difficult, especially on the hard to reach places, but she managed somehow.

Strange as it was, Kaede had told her that there were healing properties in her saliva, so if she ever found herself in a situation where she lacked herbs or salves and the like, the next best thing was to tend to her wounds by licking them. She hadn't really believed her, but it was worth a shot at least. She started with her front legs and paws, lapping at the cuts and bites there that she found. There were a surprising number of nicks and cuts she had sustained, no wonder she was so sore. To her surprise, licking them actually seemed to work and soon the soreness was easing as her wounds began to heal.

Next, she had to try and twist to get her flank, but that was made difficult by the wounds on her throat which protested strongly.

She heaved a sigh - which also hurt - and rested for a bit. She tried a different spot and found she could reach her shoulder pretty easily, so she lapped at the few cuts and such there instead. She was so busy that she didn't hear the approaching footsteps at first, until the branches began to rustle, indicating she had an unplanned visitor.

Her head popped up and she quickly caught sight of the intruder, her eyes widening at the sight of red clothes and white hair. She sat up, with some difficulty.

"Kagome? Dang, what the hell you doing here?"

She turned her head away, not really able to tell him in this form and not really willing to anyways.

After a long awkward moment, he made his typical, "huh," sound and scooted over on his haunches, unable to fully stand with the low hanging branches.

"Well at least move over so I can make a fire; it's freezing in here." He grumbled and she shifted over as requested.

In the shallow cave part of the den he built a fire that was safe and no danger to the bushes just outside. As he lit the fire she could see him more clearly, and saw that he had a small pack on his back, one she recognized as her own that she took with her often on little excursions into the woods. It contained a couple of blankets, just in case she got lost or something, and some food and other small supplies. She scooted over to him and started tugging on the pack with her teeth.

"Okay, okay. Hold up, here." He took it off and gave it to her. "Kaede suggested I bring it. Said something about it containing things ya might need."

She nodded and got to work on the strings with her teeth, getting them undone and tugging out the bundle of blankets. Once Inuyasha saw them he grabbed them from her and quickly laid them out on the ground to make a much more comfortable bed to lay on, for which she was grateful. The soft leaves were great, but they were a bit wet and cold, and had started to dampen her fur and make her shiver.

Kagome huddled closer to the fire, sighing gratefully at the warmth and dryness.

With the greater light Inuyasha was able to see the matted dark fur that showed where all she had been hurt, and he scowled, inching closer to get a better look. She flinched back, not wanting him to see the extent of how weak she truly was.

"First of all, why are you still in dog form? Second, why are you out here instead of getting your wounds treated by Kaede?"

Her ears laid back and she sniffed, turning her head away in shame.

There was another long awkward silence, filled with Inuyasha staring and her sitting uncomfortably, unable to explain.

"Are you too tired or something? Or scared?"

She flinched, not happy that he had been able to guess her reasoning.

"Come on, you can change back. Don't overthink it. That's your problem you know, if you think too hard about it, it really fucks up the transformation. If you just let instinct take over you'd be able to do it in seconds."

She glared at him balefully, realizing that he was probably right. After all, it had been pure instinct when she had transformed earlier. But she really was too tired now, and so she just turned away and heaved a deep sigh.

Groaning, Inuyasha mumbled some things under his breath, things that sounded suspiciously like, _"troublesome woman,"_ and the like. Then she heard some rustling and suddenly the space was a bit snugger as another furry body expanded and took up space next to her.

Her head swung around and she stared at him in shock, wondering why he had transformed too.

He shrugged, catching her questioning look. "Just feels weird when you're in one form and I'm in the other, this feels more natural."

She blinked, realizing he was right. With him as a dog too, it didn't feel so weird anymore and some tension eased. She settled down to rest, too shy to try and lick herself in front of Inuyasha, and resigned herself to simply dealing with the pain as the wounds healed normally. At least she was warm now, and had some company.

A loud snort distracted her from her thoughts and she opened an eye to look over at Inuyasha, wondering why he was sneezing.

His muzzle was all scrunched up. "Damn Kagome, you reek of blood. How badly were you hurt anyways?"

She flinched and turned her head away once again, her ears slicked back against her skull in a slightly whopper jawed manner with her discomfort.

She heard a huff. "Well what the fuck's wrong now? You embarrassed or something?" When her shoulders tensed he snorted. "Well damn, you _are_ embarrassed. No shit."

After some awkward silence, he relented and heaved a sigh. "Well, s'not like I can really blame you for that. I tend to get kind of … touchy about my injuries and I don't like anyone else to tend to them but me. Kaede forces me to accept it when they're bad enough, but mostly I don't let her see them."

Kagome's ears pointed back at him as she listened and then her head slowly turned back around and she gave him a slightly pathetic look, like _"really?"_

It was his turn to avert his eyes uncomfortably, and a hind foot came up to uncomfortably scratch at a fluffy ear.

There was yet another awkward silence.

"Hey…" Inuyasha finally broke the quiet. "Uh, look, don't mind me. You can keep working on your wounds, I'll just take a nap."

Putting words to action, he rested his head on his front paws and closed his eyes, seeming to actually doze off almost. Kagome blinked, surprised. He had obviously picked up on her being embarrassed by his being there.

She took advantage of his "nap" and went back to licking her wounds, getting most of the ones in reach as fast and efficiently as possible since she doubted his patience was going to last too long. Unfortunately there were a good number she simply couldn't reach at all, or ones she couldn't reach without pain, and after some wrestling with them she finally accepted the fact and let them be, flopping back down from her slightly contorted pretzel position she had ended up in to lie back on her side. She stretched out a bit and heaved a sigh, trying to get her breath back to normal since she had started panting somewhat from the exertion.

"Ya done yet?" Inuyasha grunted.

She snorted once for yes, not really having any other way to respond.

"Kay, gonna take that as a yes."

He opened his eyes but kept his head on his paws as he looked side-eyed at her. She shifted back into a more modest laying down position on her stomach and turned to look at him too.

"You suck at that by the way."

She sent him an insulted look and bared a fang in his direction.

"You still smell like blood." He pointed out in his defense, turning his resting head a little to look at her more front-on.

She wrinkled her nose and then shrugged, not having anything else to say about it. Yes, she still smelled like blood, because there were places she couldn't get to, so he'd just have to deal with it.

He sighed and his head came off his paws as he narrowed his golden eyes in her direction. After a moment he crawled closer and to her shock he started sniffing her, starting at her shoulder and then moving up. She jerked and her head snapped around so fast that she flinched and froze, the movement hurting her neck. She couldn't really see his face since he had scooted even closer, and now his head was over her back, his muzzle poking around. She shifted uneasily, and leaned away a bit, getting her paw up and landing it on his fluffy white chest to push him back a bit so she could give him a really questioning look.

"Geez, relax, I'm just gonna get these that you can't reach, chill."

After a minute she removed her paw and let him resume inspecting her black fur for blood with his nose, figuring it couldn't hurt. In fact, she rested her head on her paws, closing her eyes and deciding to take a little rest while he tended to her. Yes, it was embarrassing, which was why pretending she wasn't conscious sort of felt good.

Still, she flinched when she felt the first rasp of a big tongue across a gash she didn't know she had on her ear. That ear pinned down at the slightly weird ticklish sensation but he kept at it with rough broad laps of his mouth, moving on quickly enough to catch a spot on her cheek. His tongue was so strong that it moved her whole head as he licked her, but she tried to keep it still mostly, kind of oddly enjoying the attention. It hurt, but it also felt kind of good, soothing in a way. She supposed it was the instincts of this body saying it was right and good and nice to be tended to in this particular manner. Something inside her was saying that his actions were loving, that it was something you really only did for someone you cared about, and she couldn't help but wonder if that was a demon instinct talking or just her own shy nature.

Still, it gave her hope that maybe he was seeing her as a potential love interest, and she could feel warm bubbles of happiness rising up inside her, erasing the unease and discomfort of the situation. As she relaxed, her muscles did to, and soon she wasn't nearly as tense.

She couldn't help but chuckle silently and relax even more as she heard him keep up a constant stream of grumbling under his breath. "Fuck it all…this damn fur of yours, can't see a damn thing…for god's sake Kagome…another one? …Geez…what the hell? ….oh for crying out loud…tuh…." He did a lot of tsking and huffing as he tended to her, clucking at her like a fussy mother hen scolding her chicks. Kagome found it oddly endearing.

He was right though, she had noticed herself that it was hard to find the wounds, and that was even with her being able to feel them. But the exact spot could be hard to pin down with her long black fur getting in the way.

"You know, this would be so much easier if you were in human form." He pointed out after a while and she nodded, agreeing with him.

"Yeah, well after you rest up I'll go over them again and get anything I missed, cause I'll at least be able to fucking see them then."

Kagome nodded again, too tired and relaxed now to complain or protest.

He kept at her for a good while before finally calling it quits. To her surprise, he didn't retreat back to his side of the den, instead choosing to curl up right next to her. She felt his large furry body press up against her own, laying his length right next to her and then draping his neck over her back to rest his head on her shoulders.

She raised her head and looked back at him, getting a cocked ear and a cracked golden eye looking at her for her trouble.

"Just lay down and rest, you gotta recover some strength so you can shift back."

That didn't really answer her questions, but she decided to follow his advice anyway and so slowly rested her head back on the ground, her mind swirling with all sorts of hopeful thoughts. Surely if he just thought of her as a friend he wouldn't be cuddled up to her like this; he had never given her the impression that he was a normally cuddly kind of guy with anyone. Surely this meant he had some sort of feelings for her right?

Despite her rambling mind, she actually managed to doze off for a bit, only to wake up to a nip on her ear.

"Oi. Kagome. Kagome. Hey. Wake up. Wake up, Stupid!"

She snorted and cracked an eye to look at the pest who was also periodically chewing on her ear and shoving a pointy nose against her cheek and her own nose to try and wake her up.

She puffed a breath out of her floppy-lipped mouth and laid her ear flat that he was chewing on.

"Good, you awake?"

She puffed another breath out of her mouth, making the same sort of funny " _phhooffthpth_ " sound.

"Well? Come on, you've been resting for a while. Turn back already."

She snorted through her nose this time.

"Come ON." He insisted, nipping her again.

She growled, silently of course, but he could feel the vibration in her chest. When he started poking at her cheek again with his nose she twitched her head to the side and managed to nip his nose in a reprimand. He snorted, and then sputtered a little, and then started laughing.

After he had recovered his sanity, he sighed and plopped his head on her back again, "Geez, Lazy. You scared or something?"

She sighed, shivering a little. Yes, she was a bit scared. Doing this on purpose was always extremely painful.

There was a momentary pause, and she could almost hear the cogs turning in his brain.

"Fine, how about this, you try going back to sleep, and when you're almost there I'll wake you up again, and while you're still half-asleep we shift together. I'm pretty sure you'll do it through pure instinct when you're half-asleep, and if you're next to me your body will automatically transform if I do."

It sounded like a decent plan, so she nodded and closed her eyes again. Trouble was, she was nervous now, so it took some time for her to relax again enough to fall asleep. Still, she was drowsy from being woken up the first time, so it didn't take her nearly as long as she expected to start drifting again back towards sleep.

Inuyasha waited until she was basically dreaming before giving her a gentle nudge with his nose under her neck, rousing her just enough that she could hear his voice say in a surprisingly calming kind of tone, "It's time to shift back to a human, Kagome," in her ear.

She nodded and opened her eyes, bleary-eyed, and then she felt his body shifting next to hers.

Strangely, the odd sensation of his body shifting, all the weird pops and change in size and whatnot, did in fact trigger her own transformation, especially since she was already intending to do it. His transformation only took seconds, and hers surprisingly went nearly as fast for once as she forced herself to relax, finding it easier to do since she was still drowsy from sleep.

Of course the shock of pain was enough to fully wake her up, and by the time she was human she was wide-eyed and shivering as she felt cold, frosty air against her bare skin. It was at that point that she remembered she had once again forgotten to say the incantation that would have transformed her clothes with her. Her arms snapped over her breasts, in the small space between them, both to protect her suddenly painfully sensitive nipples from the sharp cold and also to protect her modesty, not that Inuyasha could see too much since he was practically on top of her.

They both flushed bright red as they simultaneously realized the situation, and Inuyasha started to jerk back. However, when he felt a violent shiver rack her frame at the sudden loss of fur he halted his retreat and grimaced.

"Damn it all, Woman." He grumbled, and then to her shock he gathered her up in his arms, being very careful not to accidently touch anything inappropriate, and averted his gaze.

He snatched up the very top blanket on their little bed and bundled it around her while keeping his body close to hers to help her stay warm. Once the blanket was around them both he eased his way out of it, wrapping it more firmly around Kagome and then pulling her back into his arms and rubbing his hands briskly up and down her back to try and speed up the process.

She was still flushed hot in the face, which felt odd with the chill the rest of her body had just undergone, but soon she was acclimating to the change in temperature and had stopped shivering, unclenching her arms from around herself to instead grab the blanket close. At that point Inuyasha eased back, growling and grumbling under his breath about how stupid she was and stuff like that.

She gave him a shy, awkward grin and then made a face, expressing the awkwardness of the situation. He snorted. Then his eyes slid down and stopped on her neck and the slight grin dropped from his face like it had been hooked by a fish hook and yanked down. His brow twisted and he winced.

The intensity of his reaction startled her enough that she reached up a hand to feel her neck. Sure enough, there was a horrific wound there from what she could tell from touch. What had been hidden from view by her fur was now open and exposed, and much wider and deeper on her smaller form. It had been inflicted on this form, and then deepened when she shifted into her dog form, so it had ripped even worse, but thankfully it hadn't been life threatening. Still, it felt really nasty, large flaps of skin that she could feel hanging loose and shockingly deep gouges, and the shift back into human form had made it start to bleed again.

Similarly, she could feel some other wounds that had worsened with the transformation, but over all, it seemed that she had already begun to heal and many of the smaller nicks and scrapes were already gone.

Inuyasha was scowling deeply, almost glaring at the wound on her neck as if he was pissed with the skin for being so delicate. Given the intensity of the look, she wasn't altogether surprised when he reached for her, but she still flinched a little when he grabbed her upper arms through her blanket and tugged her closer to him.

"Com'ere," he grunted. When she tensed and leaned back a bit, he huffed, "For heaven's sake Kagome, I can't treat the damn thing if you're over there and I'm over here, just relax already."

She winced a little but relaxed enough to let him pull her nearly onto his lap, flushing when his face dipped to her neck. This was so different from when they had been in dog form. That had been soothing, nice, relaxing. This was anything but relaxing, and though it was sort of soothing to the wound, it felt a lot different in all sorts of ways. Just his breath on her skin had her tensing up and flushing, and she abruptly found herself getting squirmy for a whole different reason.

She was highly embarrassed and also rather perturbed with herself. It was entirely unbecoming for her to be getting excited from his tending to her wounds, but the sensation of his tongue on her skin, painful as it was, had gotten her thinking about all sorts of inappropriate things. It wasn't really the feel of it, certainly not at first since it actually smarted a good deal, but it was more the thought of it that excited her, and then as her wounds started healing and the pain faded somewhat, it actually started to feel nice.

The absolute worst part of it was that she could smell a slight musk, and realized it was actually coming from her, and instinctually knew that it was from her getting slightly aroused by the proceedings. That was unacceptable and she put her body on abrupt lockdown, freezing every muscle and then forcing her brain to think about things distinctly unsexual.

She held absolutely still as he tended to her neck until the pain had dulled to a steady throb instead of the sharp pain of before, and then he pulled away. She twitched and tensed even more as he slid a clawed finger under the blanket around her shoulders and gently tugged on it. It took her a second to realize he wanted to check on her other wounds, but as soon as she did she eased up some on her death grip on the fabric and let him slide one side off her shoulder. She adjusted the blanket so that it covered her chest, grabbing fistfuls of it and holding it over her protectively.

He pulled one arm out from under and inspected it while her other hand gathered the blanket and held it tightly around her. She had healed her arms pretty well with her own tongue so he didn't have anything to do there or on her shoulder where she had also been able to reach. He checked the other arm as well, and she switched hands on the blanket, careful not to accidentally flash him, and giving him a swat when he tried to rush her a little. Again there was nothing to do on her arm, so he turned her around.

She kept the blanket closed in front of her, but he started tugging on it insistently and fussed at her, "Kagome…can't heal your back through the blanket you know." With a sigh, she shifted the blanket to her front and let it fall from her back, hunching and shivering a little at the gust of cold air.

He mumbled, "…sorry, I'll make it fast." And she nodded.

But then, as his eyes trained onto her exposed back for the first time, he saw something he had never expected to see. Scars, the likes of which were rare to find on a demon, marked the expanse of her back, as if hide had been removed in strips or something. It looked like wounds caused by some sort of whipping, and he jerked back a bit in shock, sucking in a deep breath. This wasn't the time or place to ask about them, and he doubted she would be able to tell him anyways, or that she'd want to tell him given how proud she was turning out to be. So, he swallowed down the horror and pain he felt at seeing them, literally aching for her and the agony she must have gone through, and simply went in to try and quickly heal her back. The faster he did it the better, because she was shivering worse and worse every second.

He found a few good spots on her back that she hadn't been able to reach and started on them, pushing at her shoulders to get her to lean over, which was fine with her because it let her conserve more warmth. She had forgotten about the scars on her back, having never seen them herself of course, and so she didn't notice his slight pause when he first saw them.

Again, she found herself shivering for reasons other than the cold, and despite the frosty air she began to feel warm. Gritting her teeth, she once again forced herself to think about other things. It didn't really work though. Her pain was fading little by little, thanks to him, and she found it harder and harder to ignore the sensation of his warm hands on her as he shifted her this way or that way to get at the various wounds. He kept pushing her lower and lower to get to her lower back, and she wrapped the tail of the blanket over her butt, flushing as she did so. Eventually she ended up just flopping over entirely and shifted onto her hip and then stomach, stretching her legs out.

Now she was lying under him as he glided his tongue over her quickly healing flesh, and she wasn't entirely sure it was necessary for her to pretend she didn't like his attentions. After all, wasn't this what she wanted? She was shy, and this was embarrassing, but on the other hand, it felt nice and it was him, and she wanted him to know that she liked him, and what better way to do that? It would be incredibly easy to let her body speak for her.

She sighed, torn on what she should do. Closing her eyes, she let herself think about it, but also let herself enjoy the sensation of his mouth on her skin at the same time.

By this point in time she was positive she loved him, there was nothing else that explained how she felt when she was around him, and so this experience was something that she wanted to be able to remember perfectly. Even if it didn't mean what she hoped it did, and she failed in her mission, at least she could have this moment. Without realizing it, her body began to relax as she stopped trying to fight it. She could feel her emotions burning her from the inside out, and it distracted her from the cold, almost tricking her into thinking it wasn't cold at all. She still shivered, but she didn't really care anymore.

Her shivering still bothered Inuyasha though, and soon he was tugging off his red fire rat robe. "Here, put this on."

She opened her eyes and looked up to see him offering it to her. She took it and pulled it under the blanket so she could slip it on.

"Good, now give me the blanket."

Confused, she did what he said, wrapping the robe tighter around her as she handed the blanket over. Inuyasha took it and then slung it around his own shoulders, which really confused her, until he then leaned back over her and flipped the blanket over them both, making a tent. She blinked in the sudden dimness, her eyes taking a moment to adjust. The firelight shone through the fabric and made it so she could see Inuyasha, but only barely.

Under the warmth of the blanket, he started tugging on the red fabric, and between the two of them they managed to get it to cover her front as he worked on her back. As she lay down again on her stomach, she tried not to feel too self-conscious about her behind. It was mostly covered by an arm of the robe.

Without the chilly air, Kagome felt even warmer, naturally, and the warm glow she could feel lighting her up from the inside was made even more noticeable. She was simply so happy. Yes, she was nervous, and anxious, and jittery, and embarrassed, and shy, but above and beyond all that she was simply…happy. Giddy almost. She finally had him in a very romantic sort of atmosphere, basically kissing her all over - even if that wasn't technically what was going on - and she felt like she had died and gone to heaven.

If it wasn't for the discomfort and awkwardness, it would be perfect.

Unfortunately, she couldn't help but be all those other things too, especially since she still wasn't sure how he felt about her. It was highly embarrassing that she was so obviously infatuated with him, or at least it was obvious that her body was infatuated with him. Under the blanket, that scent she was giving off was undeniable, and she found herself blushing with humiliation. He still probably didn't know how she emotionally felt. That was also uncomfortable, knowing that he knew she was aroused, but nothing else.

He would probably think she was a slut now, how horrific.

Still, it wasn't like she could really do anything to force her body to not respond, and it wasn't like she really wanted to anyways. She was simply very confused.

Inuyasha was also very confused.

This had started out simple. They had been dogs; it had been natural for him to lick her. But now…now it was much more complicated. He was still focused on healing the torn skin beneath his tongue, but he was getting very distracted, and she wasn't exactly reacting the way he would have expected.

This whole thing was baffling now. The fact that he was even doing this was mystifying, it was generally only something a demon would do with his mate, or at the very least a lover, but here he was, tending to her wounds in probably the most ancient way their species knew of.

He was smacked upside the head by the realization that he wouldn't have done this for anyone else. Just the thought of doing this with Sango or Miroku had him feeling nauseous, and even the thought of doing it with Kikyo felt utterly wrong. And that was a whole new bottle of weird.

All his emotions and thoughts were squirrely and weird again inside him, all those warm feelings making it fuzzy and difficult to think inside his own head. He had already come to the conclusion that he liked her, that he cared about her, but…could it be more than that? Could he actually be thinking about her like a potential mate?

It was pretty hard to say no to the thought, especially as the scent of her became more and more mateable…in every sense of the word. She was obviously feeling something along those lines, and for her to even be allowing him to do this said a great deal in and of itself. So he was left with a dilemma as he realized where this was going. Did he want to go there?

Did he…did he love her?

The sudden thought had him stalling, his mouth stopping the medical treatment it had been engaged in for a moment as he froze. It was like being slapped, or getting hit by a bolt of lightning. The shock of that word had frozen him in place, but it was utterly undeniable now that it had resounded though his brain.

He was in love with Kagome.

His pause had not gone unnoticed, and he felt her shift under him. He looked up, right as she lifted up on an elbow to look at him, and the sight of her face had him feeling like he had been hit by a second lightning bolt.

She was flushed, her eyes dilated from both the darkness of their little blanket-tent and also from the arousal he could smell so clearly painted in the air, and her expression was soft, confused, definitely shy and embarrassed, but also…something else. There was something bright in her eyes, something that went beyond simple excitement, and he wondered sharply if maybe she felt the same way about him as he did about her. It was a strange and wonderful thought, but it also made him feel just a little bit panicky, not at all sure how to deal with this unexpected and new situation.

He suddenly felt shy too, a sensation he wasn't altogether accustomed to, and he felt like he had been trapped in some sort of bright light, exposed for all the world to see, even if it was just the two of them there. The intensity of her gaze was comparable to a million eyes at that moment. How such a dazed pair of eyes could hold so much power he had no idea, but he found himself utterly incapable of breaking the stare.

After a long and increasingly intense moment, he finally looked away, clearing his throat awkwardly. He dipped his head and went back to tending to her wounds and then tensed as he felt her shiver and heard her sigh as she laid back down. His tongue felt exceptionally thick and fuzzy for some unknown reason, but he worked past it to close her wounds.

She had an injury on her stomach that he could see poking over her side, so he eventually had to roll her over onto her back to get to that, and there was some awkward rearranging as she tried to keep her breasts and her nether bits covered, which didn't altogether work. Mostly he just forced himself to ignore the bits of curve that he could see from around the edge of his sleeve she had dedicated to the purpose of covering her chest. He realized he could take the sleeve off his robe entirely to drape over her chest, but then decided not to, perhaps for the wrong reasons.

He could feel her stomach fluttering in the most interesting fashion under his mouth, and he wondered absentmindedly if she was ticklish. That cut was quite shallow though, so it was healed quickly and he didn't have the time to test his hypothesis. So he regretfully moved on, which had him moving down as he noticed a gash on her thigh. Her legs crossed tightly and she drew his robe over her upper body fully as he slid down her body.

He flushed, averting his eyes as he grabbed the leg he intended to work on and moved it a little to get to the outside, bending her knee and crossing it a bit over her other leg. This close to the source, her scent was downright overpowering, and he could feel his mind getting dangerously fuzzy and clogged with some highly suggestive ideas. He could practically taste her with the way she was smelling right now, and the taste of her blood wasn't really dulling it enough, it was only taking the edge off. At the very least his mouth watering was a good thing because it made licking her wounds easier.

She wasn't the only one producing musk, not by a long shot. He was fully into making that scent as well, and he found himself having to readjust himself several times as his pants grew too tight in some places. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty at it though, since, despite the fact that she was obviously into this, he was still technically healing her wounds. He didn't like the idea of being aroused while she was injured.

Thankfully, that was the last wound deep enough to require tending to and he could move back up her body again and get some slightly fresher air to try and clear his head. His eyes landed on the wound on her neck again, the worst by far, and he found himself leaning in to lick her there again purely on instinct, and somehow he found her in his arms.

The sight of that wound had shot him through with pure terror when he first saw it, since it looked like she had very nearly died, and it still affected him strongly as he laved it, trying to get it to go away. The arousal dimmed ever so slightly, overwhelmed somewhat by just as strong emotions. He wished to every god he knew that he had been able to protect her against these wounds, and swore to himself that he wouldn't ever let her get this hurt again.

He had seen the way she fought for him, so he knew instinctively that it would be impossible to prevent all wounds. She had her own fighting spirit after all, one that was as bold and bright as his own. So he knew he couldn't ask her to stand by idly as he took on everything himself, but he promised silently that at the very least he would never let her get such a dangerous wound ever again.

He could feel her body tense at first as he held her to him, reassuring himself that she was fine, but then she softened, letting herself mold to him. After a moment he felt a soft hesitant touch in return. It took him a second to realize she had released her hold on the robe and had instead wrapped her arms around him as well, her hands very lightly, almost hesitantly resting on his back, as though testing to see if it was okay for her to do so.

As Inuyasha kissed her neck, Kagome sighed, relaxing into him completely, or at least that was what her body did automatically. Her mind, on the other hand, was still fighting with itself a little, caught between being slightly overwhelmed, embarrassed, shocked that this was even happening, and of course totally engulfed by what was going on.

She didn't even know when her hands ended up on his back, but at some point she realized that was where they were currently located, simply because his hair was tickling her hands and wrists as he moved to sit up a little and looked down at her. She blinked up at him, slightly dazed and confused and certainly quite fuzzy in the head. She could feel how her eyes weren't opening all the way, almost as if she was relaxed or sleepy, yet she didn't really feel either of those things. Instead her eyes should be open wide with how wired and excited she really felt, but her body seemed to contradict itself. At least her heart and lungs were with the picture because they were working overtime, making it so she had to part her lips a little just to get enough air into her chest; otherwise she was worried she would split apart from the pressure. It was like she had too much air and yet still not enough, and she absentmindedly wondered if she was hyperventilating.

When his eyes met hers though, her breathing stopped for a full ten seconds before restarting rather dramatically on a swift and deep inhale that had her gulping and nearly choking. She had never seen him look at anything like that before, much less another person.

He almost looked angry, almost. He almost looked sad…but not quite. He almost looked anxious... But overall he quite simply looked intense, focused.

His gaze nearly made her want to crawl out of her skin, but in a good way. It was as if a lamp had been lit behind his golden eyes, making them look molten and glowing, like they possessed some sort of strange fire, and it certainly felt like they had set her to burning. She couldn't have broken his stare, even if her life had depended on it and so she found herself just stuck there, looking up at him, barely even thinking. The little that she could think was stuck on, _What now?_ _What's he going to do? Is he going to…_

The questions were answered when his eyes flicked down to her lips and he stared there for a long moment, the intensity of them only growing stronger, until she could almost feel him touching her, even though he wasn't. His eyes glanced back up to meet her eyes, taking in her reaction and then looked back down, almost as if asking permission.

At that point Kagome didn't know what came over her, all she knew was that she suddenly very much wanted to kiss Inuyasha, with every fiber of her being. It felt like her chest was a bottle under pressure and the cork was about to pop out, and that popping would kill her if she didn't do something about it right now. She didn't know how she ended up with her hands on either side of his face, or how he was suddenly right there, his nose brushing hers as their breath mingled.

Post-action, she realized that she had actually yanked him to her, and perhaps had lifted up a little herself to meet him in the middle, but at the moment it happened she didn't really pay attention to insignificant details such as those.

She did have enough presence of mind to pause before she smashed her mouth to his, coming to her senses to realize just how close he was to her, and suddenly a shock of nerves crashed over her like a cold wave of water. Her eyes snapped open wide, wide enough that she could see every little nuance of Inuyasha's face so up close and personal. His eyelashes were sort of a slate grey, darker than his silver eyebrows, and he had a tiny scar inside his right eye somehow, a tiny little sliver of whiter scar tissue right next to the golden iris. That was all she was able to absorb before his shocked and wide eyelids slowly lowered, his eyes growing heated once again quickly, and then closing.

And then his lips pressed to hers and her eyes closed as well.

His mouth moved against her, warm and softer than she remembered, though his skin was still a little chapped, and her lips tried to meet and press against his in the same sort of motion.

Innocent as she was, she hadn't realized a kiss was constantly in motion, a thing of changeability, almost like a conversation of some sort. Being a girl, she had thought about it of course, however she had always fantasized that a boy's lips would press to hers and then just hold it there, almost like a mouth lock, but that was definitely not what Inuyasha was currently doing. He was stroking his mouth over hers, moving his lips both together and also separately, making the typical puckering motions of kisses that she had expected, only over and over again, and in different ways. He would give her little short kisses and then slow long ones, the motions being similar but with different timing. It was eager, and yet sort of difficult to follow at times, and Kagome found it almost awkward at times. Yet, she was still enthralled, simply because it was his mouth against hers.

It only grew more confusing as he parted his lips and nibbled at her, and she struggled to fit their lips together in a way that seemed to make sense. For a moment it was disjointed and bumpy, so much so that after a second Kagome stopped trying to match him entirely. She simply softened her mouth and accepted his kisses, not trying to meet or match his for a moment.

Once she stopped trying so hard it came much more easily, and she found her lips slowly following his all on their own, and she simply went with it. Soon she was kissing back, her lips parting under his and fitting against and in between his own lips in such a way that it felt perfectly natural, and wonderful.

And with that a rhythm seemed to start up, one that had Kagome falling into the kiss headfirst and getting lost in it. Her brain stopped thinking and she started just feeling, her senses absorbed by the feel of his mouth against hers, the scent and taste of his warm breath and the warmth and weight of his whole body over hers. Her hands somehow worked their way up into his hair, tangling in the long silky strands, and then her fingers found his fluffy soft ears.

She hadn't ever felt the fur of his ears before, in fact she hadn't ever really bothered to feel her own ears oddly enough, and so she was sort of shocked by just how soft they were. It was almost like rabbit fur, and she thoroughly enjoyed stroking them with her fingers, the velvety feeling against her fingertips and palms adding to all the other sensations.

It certainly seemed to do something for Inuyasha, since he whined and then growled against her lips, his whole posture suddenly growing more intent. His elbows landed on either side of her and his hands tangled in her own hair on either side of her face, his clawed fingers spearing through the black mass to cradle the back of her skull as he tilted her head up to meet his advances. His mouth slanted over hers more and his lips parted, the tip of his tongue suddenly slipping between her own parted lips to press against her teeth.

He caught her unawares almost, and her teeth weren't pressed hard together so he was able to wedge his tongue between them before she knew really what was going on. She did however realize his tongue was in her mouth rather quickly, and wasn't entirely sure what to do with it.

She had heard whispered stories about this sort of thing, but had never really believed them since the prospect had seemed rather gross and unsanitary to her. The sensation was certainly odd and her first instinct was to try and push his tongue out of her mouth with her own, however that only resulted in her rubbing her tongue against his, and that felt really odd. It felt kind of slimy. That was her first impression at least, that it was slippery and slimy and not very desirable, and she wasn't entirely on board with him moving that thing around in her mouth. Of course he did it anyway, since she couldn't exactly voice any protests and was too shocked to try to push him away.

His lips continued to move against hers, but not as much and not as coordinated as before, and overall it felt very odd. However, after a while she slowly acclimated to the sensations, and decided maybe they weren't so bad after all. It was still weird, and still a little gross, but at the same time it was undeniably intimate, which made it exciting simply because of that. And then there was the warmth of it all, their moist, heated breaths making everything humid in between their open mouths, and his lips and tongue warming hers.

At first he was perhaps too eager, which was what had put her off of it in the first place, but after a moment he slowed down, his tongue not quite so overwhelming. It stopped moving so roughly and instead slid against hers more gently, caressing instead of spastically exploring her mouth and attempting to dominate her tongue. As he gentled, his mouth sealed a little more firmly against hers, and his lips began to slowly move, more in rhythm with his tongue, and she found herself matching him. Without the freneticism, it was much more pleasant, and she grew to enjoy it thoroughly, even venturing to attempt engaging his tongue with her own in a sort of push and pull. As they both accustomed themselves to this kind of kissing, it became almost a dance, as they established a rhythm once again.

It was nearly intoxicating, and he settled into her, between her legs which she hadn't even realized were parted and bent until her thighs automatically hugged his hips, wanting to get as close to him as possible. Under any normal circumstance, the realization of just what sort of inappropriate position she now found herself in would have sent her into a flustered tizzy, but right then all it did was make her flush a little and gasp.

She could now definitely feel evidence of his own desire for her, pressed up against her thigh as it was, which she felt was only fair, after all she had been displaying her own for him with her scent for a good while now. It was only now that she realized he had been giving off a similar scent. So close, with his breath in her face and his hair curtaining them and his body over hers, she realized that musky scent had been coming from him as well, only a lower, more subtle note that had been hidden under her own – probably because he was a male and therefore didn't produce the sort of sticky situation she could feel was going on between her own thighs.

She realized with a good deal of embarrassment that that stickiness was probably getting on his clothes…which would probably be smelt by the others back in the village, but those thoughts were promptly shoved to the back of her mind by his hands stroking her sides lovingly. She sucked in a breath through the kiss and arched into the caress, loving just about anything that showed he wanted her…which meant she thoroughly enjoyed every single thing about this situation.

It seemed she was only just realizing how much she had wanted this…as if she was thirsty for it and couldn't get enough. Maybe it had been the stress of the constant threat of being killed or worse by that witch, maybe it was her own powerful emotions that she had been worried were only one sided, maybe it was simply the fact that she felt for the first time like she was being accepted purely as herself…whatever the case, she never wanted to stop kissing Inuyasha.

Things such as feeling his hard on and knowing that her fluids were probably going to stain his red robe didn't seem to matter nearly as much as they otherwise would have, or rather, they mattered a lot, but didn't embarrass her like they normally would.

And then all thoughts were wiped from her mind as his hands found her own ears and caressed them the way hers had only a little while previously. She instantly knew why it had affected him so strongly as unexpected zaps of pleasure traveled from the furry triangles on her head to her groin. It was shockingly similar to the way it felt when she had touched her own breasts sometimes in the past…the way it aroused her and seemed directly connected to the space between her legs.

With a shocked gasp she jerked a bit and pulled back from the kiss, blinking in wide-eyed surprise up at Inuyasha as he continued to play with her ears. It seemed he was judging her expression for a moment and then grinned, looking satisfied and amused - and aroused of course.

Dipping his head back down he murmured against her lips, "Figured as much. You didn't know about this either did you?"

She shook her head 'no' as much as she could, what with his grip on her ears and his lips capturing her own again. But he still felt the slight move and chuckled into her mouth.

The rubbing of her ears and the restarted kiss sent her body into a roll, and her hips instinctively bucked up into his. That move seemed to trigger him to meet her, his hips doing the same sort of motion as her own as he thrusted against her and a quiet groan came from him. At the same time his teeth lightly nipped her lower lip, getting a sharp gasp of surprise from her.

This situation seemed to be rapidly spiraling out of control, and Kagome briefly wondered just how far it was going to go. Was he going to…? She knew a little about what happened between a man and woman, at least between humans, but she had no idea if that differed between demons. Normally she would be terrified by the unknown, but at the moment…as with everything else, the worries slipped from her mind. She had already committed herself to Inuyasha, till death did they part – literally – and so she saw no reason to worry about what was about to happen. Perhaps that was simply the arousal talking though. Her higher brain functions had shut off after all.

The choice was taken from her though, when suddenly a loud cawing noise erupted from somewhere high overhead, outside of their shelter, and then suddenly a whole heap of snow came crashing down onto the bush they were hunkered under. Some of that snow sifted down to them and landed on the blanket, which had Inuyasha cussing rather harshly as he jerked upright and snapped the blanket off to flick the snow off to the edges of the bush so it wouldn't get wet. He glared up at the canopy of the bush, obviously wanting to kill whatever creature had just upset the snow laden branches of the trees above them.

The interruption reset Kagome's mind, and she abruptly realized her state of undress and just how close they had come to consummating something they hadn't ever even talked about, and she flushed hot red, quickly pulling Inuyasha's robe onto her body properly, with her arms in the sleeves and everything. She shivered in the cold air, feeling unnerved and a little worried about what was going to happen now.

Surely that kiss meant that Inuyasha wanted what she did. Right? Or had he just been caught up in the moment? She had heard that men sometimes got carried away even when they didn't feel something like love for someone…

As Inuyasha looked back down, his eyes softened as he took in her worried face and her shivering form and he lay back down, next to her this time, and dragged the blanket back around them both. He cuddled up to her, slipping his arms around her and pulling her close but not initiating a continuation of the kiss. He could see that she wasn't ready for anything more, judging by her body language, and he went with it. He did have to awkwardly adjust himself a bit though as his dick protested his considerate decision.

She seemed to appreciate it though, and after a moment she relaxed into him, warming up to his silent cuddle suggestion. In fact, she even snuggled closer.

She said nothing, and so he had no way of knowing that inside, her head was busy as a bee hive.

Kagome just couldn't stop thinking about what happened, and what had almost happened, and what all she still didn't really know about what might have happened. Did this constitute as them being mates now? If being mates just meant they were in a relationship or something, then maybe this was all it took? Somehow she doubted it though.

Of course the only way to know for sure, would be to ask. And so, the next day, after a slightly fitful and yet still absolutely wonderful night spent cuddled up to Inuyasha, they set off back to the village. Once in reach, Kagome set off for Kaede's hut, motioning to her clothing – Inuyasha's robe – as an excuse. He nodded and said he'd meet up with her in a bit, he had some things to do as well.

So he set off for his own den – for the purpose of relieving his still slightly aching problem, unbeknownst to her of course – and she set off for Kaede's hut. Upon arrival, Kaede took one look at her and tsked.

"Forgot the mantra did ye?"

Kagome nodded bashfully, instantly going about putting on her own borrowed clothing from Sango and taking off Inuyasha's robe. As she did so, Kaede approached, with an odd look in her eye and her ears pricked forwards in interest. Kagome didn't notice her until she heard a deep sniff and turned around to see the elderly woman a bit closer than she had expected, apparently sniffing her.

She jumped and took a step back.

"My apologies, I was just verifying something." Kaede said kindly, stepping back and giving Kagome some room.

At Kagome's curious look, she continued, saying, "Ye and Inuyasha have become prospective mates correct?"

Kagome gaped and stared at her wide-eyed. Then flushed, realizing just what had given her away. As embarrassing as it was, it also was a perfect opening to what Kagome was going to ask anyways.

She bashfully nodded and then started mouthing and miming, trying to ask the question, _'what is mating? What do you have to do to be mates?'_

After a bit of silent communication, she finally got her question across and Kaede raised a brow. "Ye truly don't know what goes into becoming mates?"

At her vibrant flush and shake of her head 'no,' Kaede's other brow rose to join its twin. "Are ye totally innocent then? Do ye even know what happens in the bed of a male and female?"

Kagome flushed even darker and shrugged, making a 'sort of' gesture.

"Oh dear." Kaede sighed, and then gestured for the two of them to sit and began preparing some tea. Not a good sign.

"Very well. I shall start at the beginning then. Ye know where babies come from right?"

Kagome nodded and pressed her hand to her own womb.

"Good. And ye know that laying with a male makes ye pregnant?"

At Kagome's nod she continued. She told her about the male and female reproductive organs, and how they fit together, and something of what transpired after. It all seemed highly inappropriate and slightly gross and a bit exciting and fascinating…but above all Kagome kept finding herself thinking, _we were going to do_ _ **that**_ _?!_

It wasn't shocking, exactly, well some of it was, but it was just all a bit overwhelming. Some of it she wasn't even sure was human. Of course, if she was totally honest with herself, if Inuyasha had tried to put himself inside of her last night…she wasn't entirely sure she would have minded. It was hard to tell though. As far as she had previously thought they had gotten, now, with all her new information, it almost seemed as if they hadn't gotten nearly as far. There had been no direct genital contact, or really stimulation of any sort in that area of the body, and though they had both been very aroused, they hadn't done much beyond just really intense kissing. It was a slightly discouraging thought.

After the lesson on the birds and the bees, Kaede proceeded to inform Kagome on what happened during a mating ceremony.

"To be someone's mate, ye have to actually mate. Meaning, that ye have to lay with him, as I just described. But there are some changes. Demons can mate and not be mates, in other words, they can simple lay together for the pleasure, but not commit to each other. Potential mates can even do this, sometimes for years before actually claiming each other as life mates. Mating is for life ye see, it is like the human commitment of marriage, except it is non-breakable."

At this Kagome internally freaked a little, thinking she had thoroughly screwed herself with that deal with the witch. No way was Inuyasha going to commit to her like that after only three weeks.

"Now, in terms of the actual mating ceremony, and claiming each other - to claim each other ye would have to bite each other, in the process pushing some of yer own essence into the other and therefore mixing yer magic. This bite would leave a mark, a scar of sorts, which would let everyone else know ye were mates. Each pair of marks is slightly different, though the pair is identical to each other. Ye would also scent mark each other, a process that combines yer scents – this is yet another way to tell others ye are mated. Then, ye would mate, lay with each other as I told ye earlier, but there is a fundamental difference with actual mating, specific to canine-type demons. With dog demons, and I would imagine wolf demons, during mating the male knots with the female, tying himself to her till the mating is complete. This only happens between mated pairs."

At this, Kagome had to ask, or mime, what the heck 'knot' meant, and when she got her answer she gaped at Kaede in disbelief. She knew dogs knotted when they mated, from those forbidden books she had read on the biology of all different sorts of animals, but never in her wildest dreams would she have thought male dog-demon's genitals to have that sort of capability. It was a mildly horrifying prospect and sounded rather painful. And she was going to have to put up with that, if she didn't want to die or something.

Just what had she gotten herself into?

* * *

Author's Note:

Yay! We finally have a lemon scented scene! It's about time. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. ;)

As always, reviews are very welcome and loved. And to everyone who has already reviewed: Thank you so very, very much! You guys are awesome! :D Big hugs all around.


	14. Chapter 14

After being told about the whole mating thing by Kaede, Kagome found herself in a state of shock, and when Inuyasha came by she flushed, everything she had just learned going back through her mind. He looked at her funny as she joined him, probably because of her uncomfortable expression and vivid blush. Still, he didn't ask about it, for which she was very grateful, as they took a walk through the village, lending help here and there.

There was a good amount of damage, and everyone was in the process of fixing all the broken stuff, and occasionally just having to rebuild. As they entered the courtyard where that odd well was, the one that had spat out all those demons, Inuyasha stalled.

At her curious look he frowned and asked her, "Hey…remember those centipedes?" She nodded and he continued. "Miroku said that they came from the bone-eater's well. He … he said that he saw Kikyo shoot it with an arrow. Did you … happen to see anything?" He had asked Kikyo herself, but hadn't gotten a reply from her, so he was still highly bothered by it.

Kagome bit her lip, glancing away. She knew that Inuyasha liked Kikyo, and she didn't want to tell on her, but if Miroku was right and she had shot those doors open like Kagome had already suspected then…maybe he needed to know what Kikyo had told her.

She mouthed, ' _Kikyo said…she wanted to be your mate. And she was going to help you, not me.'_ She gestured as best she could to help the point get across, pointing at him and her and the gesture for Kikyo was holding her hands like she was praying, since she was a priestess.

He got it pretty quick, and discomfort, anger, and shock all crossed his face. With a thick gulp he scowled, and excused himself, and Kagome got the feeling he was going to go try and find Kikyo and sort this thing out. On the one hand, she hoped he could sort it out and get Kikyo to lay off a bit, but on the other she was a little worried. Now that he knew Kikyo wanted to be his mate, would he pick her?

Leaving the concerned Kagome, Inuyasha quickly traced down Kikyo and pulled her aside to have yet another little chat.

"Yes, Inuyasha? You wanted to ask me something?" She said in that calm way of hers, staring up at him with those black piercing eyes.

He suddenly realized he was going to have to actually say something, and that he hadn't actually thought far enough ahead to figure out just what it was he was going to tell her. Shit.

"Look, Kikyo…" He scratched the back of his head and looked up, as if asking the overhead branches for advice on how the fuck to go about telling her that he wasn't interested in her. Of course he still liked her, and cared about her, but them being mates was pretty much out of the question now. Not after what he had found out, and certainly not after what had transpired between him and Kagome last night.

There was no mystical advice from above though of course so he heaved a sigh and decided to be blunt about it.

"I heard you wanted to be mates." He waited for a second to judge her reaction, which was pretty minimal. Still he saw the slight widening and then narrowing of her eyes and took that as his cue to continue. "Yeah, so, about that. I don't think that's really…I don't think that's gonna be possible."

There was a long awkward silence. Then Kikyo finally spoke. "I see. I'm assuming Kagome told you this?"

Inuyasha nodded a bit jerkily, still not sure what exactly had happened in that courtyard several days ago, but he definitely knew that there were some… _tensions_ between the two women.

Kikyo frowned, ever so slightly and turned away. Still facing away from him, she said, "So…you wish to be with her instead?"

Inuyasha winced, thinking, _yep, this is awkward_. Still, she had a right to know. After all, they had sort of almost been courting off and on before this whole thing. "…well, yeah, there's that."

He cleared his throat and quickly continued, trying to make his voice a little more serious and less uncomfortable. He partly succeeded. "But… that's not the only reason I wanted to talk to you. I also wanted to ask you again about what happened that night, aside from what you told Kagome."

He had to pause to cough slightly uncomfortably and then continued seriously. "I…I know I asked you before, but you refused to answer me. It's pretty dang hard for me to believe that you shot the doors to the well open, but…it kinda looks like that's what all the evidence is pointing to. If ya did, then I don't know what the fuck you were thinking on that one."

She scowled, he could see that even though she was turned away.

Kikyo was aggravated by this line of questioning. To be honest, her reasons for shooting the well door were somewhat fuzzy even to herself. All she knew was that Kagome - that suspicious new woman - had been going after _her_ Inuyasha, which she simply could not allow. She didn't want to admit to herself that she was jealous, though it was blatantly obvious, but truthfully she also was concerned about this woman's motives. She was an unknown, and Kikyo was a naturally suspicious person.

Nothing she had learned about Kagome had done anything to dissuade her suspicions.

So, she had followed her, watched her from the shadows, and had her ghost like demon companions follow her as well. The long thin floating demons had been her companions for many years now, for which she was very grateful in situations such as these, because they were excellent at gathering information.

Thus, she had learned that Kagome had some sort of ongoing deal with a witch, and the contract was unknown. Yet another unknown. Nobody knew where she came from, what had happened to her, why she didn't seem to know anything about anything, or what her motives were. So of course she was concerned.

Still, she had to admit, her shooting the doors of the well had been an impulsive and dangerous move. She really shouldn't have taken things into her own hands like that, but still, this woman was a threat that needed to be dealt with, and soon.

She could feel herself getting angrier and did her best to calm herself, but it was rather difficult when she had been told by the man she had thought would be her mate, that he was interested in this other woman instead. It was infuriating. So, she left without another word, setting off to take care of this problem once and for all, for the good of the whole pack, and for her own future, Kagome had to be eliminated.

Meanwhile, Kagome was walking along a path back to the village after a short walk to clear her head. Along the way, she had met Shippō, and the little fox kit had stuck to her and was now providing an excellent distraction to her continued worried. He was perched on her shoulder and was chattering away in her ear. Even so, those worries and concerns continued to nag at her in the back of her mind, despite her attempts at paying attention to him.

It had been several days, making it the beginning of her last week, and she was getting concerned. She thought that Inuyasha might be thinking of her as a potential mate now at least, but learning that being mates was much more involved than simply courting or being her boyfriend like she had thought had sort of put a damper on her hope. Knowing that she had to actually pick him as her partner for basically the rest of her life was daunting.

She was distracted from her thoughts as she came around a corner and nearly ran right into Kikyo – yet another one of her concerns of the moment. Kagome dug her heels in and then threw herself back, not wanting to collide with the other woman. Once she had regained her balance she tried to regather her scattered thoughts and composure, she then remembered that she was supposed to be a bit ticked at Kikyo for the stunt she had pulled. Being mad was better than being anxious about what she and Inuyasha had been undoubtedly talking about. So she crossed her arms and fixed the other woman with a stern look.

She didn't have to wait long.

"I challenge you to a demon battle."

Kagome blinked, not expecting that, and cocked her head.

"Say what?!" Shippō squeaked from her shoulder and Kagome glanced at him, silently asking with a questioning look for some clarification.

He caught the look and whispered urgently in her ear. "She's challenging you officially! This could be bad. Depending on the terms you may _**have**_ to fight her."

Kagome glanced at Kikyo and then back at Shippō anxiously, asking him with her eyes to do it for her. He nodded and turned back to Kikyo.

"What are you challenging her for?"

"Pack rights."

Shippō winced. "Uh…in reference to which ones specifically?"

"All of them."

"Damn." Kagome turned to Shippō, worried when he cussed, and he whispered in her ear, "She's saying that she's challenging your right to stay here in the pack. If you lose the fight, or refuse the challenge, you will be exiled."

Kagome sent him a very worried look.

"There might be a way to get around it, hold on." Shippō turned back to Kikyo again. "Okay, uh, she challenges your challenge and requests that you procure Alpha blessing on this proposed dual."

Kikyo scowled and then turned briskly, saying, "Fine. Follow me, we shall do this now."

Kagome hurried to follow at the urge by Shippō. They walked swiftly all the way to Kaede's hut, and Kikyo strode in first.

"Ah, Kikyo, how may I help ye - Oh, Kagome, ye are here too?" Kaede blinked at the two of them, rather surprised to see them together.

Inuyasha was as well. "Kagome? Oh, hey, I was just lookin' for you." He seemed to be intentionally avoiding looking at Kikyo.

Kagome winced, feeling that he was only making things worse. However, Kikyo ignored him too and spoke only to Kaede. "I wish to challenge Kagome to a battle for all rights to the pack. She had challenged my request on the qualification that I must procure Alpha sanction for the battle."

Kaede stiffened and grew immediately serious. "I…see. And what are yer reasons for challenging Kagome?"

"I believe her to be a threat to the welfare of the pack. Her origins and motives are unknown and I have come by information that points to her having a contract with a forest witch. The details of this contract are unknown, and so her part of the contract could put the pack in danger. Certainly if she fails to fulfill her side of the contract, the witch will come to collect, which could put the pack in danger."

Kaede grimaced and then seemed to sink deep into thought. "Perhaps, but do ye truly believe that challenging her rights to the pack is the right way to go about this?"

Kikyo nodded firmly. "I do."

"And ye refuse to reconsider?"

"Yes."

With a heavy sigh, Kaede steepled her fingers and frowned, looking down at her lap. After a long tense silence, she said, "I do not believe that yer challenge is right, nor do I wish to see the two of ye fight. However, I must abide by pack laws, and it is a right of any pack member to challenge another, given justified reason, so I must honor your request."

"Oi! What the hell are you going on about you old bag? You can't let Kikyo fight Kagome!"

"Hush Inuyasha, this is pack law, it is ancient and unbreakable, do not interfere."

Even Inuyasha shut up under the fierce glare Kaede sent him. But only for a few seconds. "No way! There's absolutely no way I'm gonna let this happen!"

Kaede upped the wattage of her glare. "Inuyasha…if ye persist in breaking pack law I must put ye under arrest and punish ye for insubordination."

He growled, glaring right back at her. "This ain't right and you know it!"

"Be that as it may, this is the law."

"Kaede!"

"Inuyasha! Will ye restrain yourself?"

"No! Not until you tell Kikyo that she can go shove her challenge up her…well, anyways." He coughed, not comfortable with dissing someone he cared about. "If you don't stop this, then I will."

With a heavy sigh, Kaede took a bag out of her sleeve. "Very well Inuyasha, if ye insist on being so stubborn then ye leave me no choice."

She threw something at him, something which oddly enough wrapped around his neck. For a brief second Kagome panicked, but then she just realized it was only a necklace. She turned and looked at Kaede, slightly confused.

"Hey! What the hell is this?!" Inuyasha yelled, grabbing the beads and yanking at them.

"They are beads of subjugation; ye will know soon enough their purpose."

He sat back, scowling.

"Now, when do ye wish for this challenge to take place?"

"Immediately." Kikyo announced, having them all stare at her wide eyed with shock.

Kaede got over hers quicker than the others. "Ahem, as you wish. Choose a battle ground."

Everyone could hear Inuyasha's teeth grinding together but no one commented on it.

"The clearing in the forest ninety kilometers from the west entrance into the village."

Kaede nodded, apparently knowing the spot Kikyo had described. If Kagome was correct, she thought it might be the very same clearing Kaede had trained her in not so long ago. "Very well, however as Alpha, I have the right to make the rules. Weapons will not be allowed, only powers or claws and teeth. Understood?"

Kikyo scowled but nodded.

Kagome groaned silently, not really wanting to transform again so fast. At least after last night, and the excellent healing job Inuyasha had done on her, she wasn't hurt too bad anymore. Even the bad wound on her neck had closed and had made new skin.

They made their way to the designated area, and yes, it was the clearing Kagome had thought of.

On the way, they managed to pick up both Sango and Miroku, who apparently Shippō had run off and told while Kikyo, Kagome, and Kaede had been in the hut. When Kaede sent them both a questioning look, Miroku stepped forward solemnly. "Sango and I will be witnesses to the challenge if permitted." He sent Kagome a concerned glance.

Kaede nodded. "That will be acceptable. Follow us."

And so, there were five onlookers, plus Kilala who tagged along with Sango. Once they reached the clearing that Kikyo had designated as her battlefield Kaede said, "Now, are we clear on the rules? No weapons."

Both Kikyo and Kagome nodded, and Kaede continued. "Very well. All onlookers remove yerselves to the tree line."

Sango, Miroku, Kilala, and Shippō did as Kaede asked without any complaint, only sending sympathetic glances towards her, and Sango patted Kagome's shoulder encouragingly on the way out of the makeshift ring. Inuyasha, on the other hand, resisted stubbornly and insisted on standing next to Kagome.

"No! I ain't budging!"

"Miroku, Sango." Kaede said, and they both nodded, swiftly grabbing Inuyasha and dragging him to the tree line with the rest of them. Taken by surprise at first, Inuyasha quickly began to put up a fight. The last few feet it was nearly impossible to drag him, and once at the tree line he couldn't be held. He broke free, throwing them both off with a yell and a snarl and even some spitting, but he didn't get a single foot inside the clearing because Kaede barked, "SIT!"

He made an abrupt and surprising head dive into the ground as the beads around his neck glowed and seemingly dragged him down. He sputtered and yelped, spitting out a mouthful of dirt and craning his neck to try and see Kaede from his position flat on his face. "Wh-what the fuck was that?!"

"That, Inuyasha, is the beads of subjugation. Ye will sit there until this battle is over." At the word 'sit' he went crashing back down to the ground, having only just managed to peel himself up a little from the previous command.

Concerned, Kagome started towards him, really perturbed by his predicament, but she was distracted by Kikyo, who sent a blast of light her way. At first Kagome didn't know how she had thrown a ball of spirit energy, but quickly discovered how when she turned around on her heel, spinning so fast she nearly lost her balance and toppled over. Kikyo was holding what appeared to be a bow made entirely out of glowing blue energy, and as she pointed the bow at Kagome and drew the string back, an arrow made entirely of energy appeared notched on the bow.

Kagome didn't have the time to stop and stare, because she was already under attack. She was at a distinct disadvantage, because she certainly didn't know how to make energy weapons like that, so she was forced to dodge. She guessed this wasn't technically breaking the rules since Kikyo wasn't actually using a flesh and blood weapon, but she couldn't help but feel a bit vexed with her.

"KAGOME! Use your claws!" Inuyasha bellowed from his spot on the ground, reminding Kagome that she could in fact do something.

He had shown her some of his attacks in their spare time. She hadn't mastered them by any means, but she might be able to use them if she had to. Concentrating on her hands, she managed to build up some energy in her claws and sent it flashing out, yellow energy marking paths through the air where the slashes marred the air. The cuts of energy managed to block the next oncoming arrow, and Kagome almost pumped her fist in the air in excitement.

She didn't have time to really though and had to dodge, dive, and roll to miss the next arrow. Her only chance in hell she had would be to transform, but Kikyo wasn't really giving her the chance to. When she paused, giving it a wild shot she got grazed in the shoulder, and the only reason she didn't get shot through the chest was because she broke her concentration and dove to the ground to miss it. Hissing, she rolled to the side to miss the next and then managed to get her feet under her, scrambling to get out of the way of the next projectile coming her way. She was going to have to shift on the fly, like she had done in the battle with the wolves, but to do that she was going to have to get either mad or scared enough for her instincts to take over.

Scared and mad wasn't really a problem, she was both already, but she just wasn't at the level she had been when Inuyasha had nearly gotten himself killed. So, she was going to have to get creative. Thinking fast, while keeping herself aware of her opponent, she decided to try and imagine a scenario that would make her mad. The easiest thing to do was to just remember the last time she had been able to do it. Thinking back to Inuyasha pinned to the ground by wolves, with his own sword hovering over him, she forced herself to imagine he had actually been killed, tried to actually picture his blood splattering the walls behind him, tried to imagine what his scream would have sounded like.

Pain shot through her fast and hard, both emotional and physical as the thoughts in her head made her want to weep, scream, and rage while Kikyo managed to hit her in the thigh. That finally did it and she shifted mid-dodge, her large dog body hitting the ground and thrashing for a moment as she got her bearings. Scrambling for purchase, her claws lashing the air and then the ground, she somehow got herself up and moving, wincing at the wound in her leg and then wincing again as Kikyo managed to shoot her again in her shoulder.

It hurt like a bitch, the energy arrows shooting her with pain and throwing her back with the power behind them. Her dog body hit a tree, broke it, and she went crashing to the ground on top of the log. She tossed herself on the opposite side to use the log for cover and then scrambled to get her feet under her again, crouching behind the thick downed trunk for a second to catch her breath. If the stakes hadn't been so high she would have given up, but that was simply not an option. If she got kicked out of the pack she would die anyways, by the witch's hands. So, after a quick breath, she leapt over the fallen tree, jumping hard and high despite the pain in her leg. Her airborne position was not good to go up against an opponent with arrows, and at the peak of her leap Kikyo shot another at her.

Growling silently, Kagome focused all her willpower behind her much longer claws and slashed the air, knocking the arrow out of the sky with a blast of light. She landed unmolested, close to Kikyo. Kikyo narrowed her eyes at Kagome, notching an arrow and aiming at her. She looked deep into the other woman's eyes, her eyes questioning the woman, wondering why she was going so far.

Quietly, Kikyo muttered, almost as if to herself, "You will not have Inuyasha."

And that was when Kagome's temper got the better of her. A flash of anger seared through her system at the other woman's statement. _So that's what this is all about? She's fricken' jealous? If she can't have Inuyasha, then no one can, is that the game here? How petty, how stupid, how…_ Kagome ran out of thoughts, just finding herself so irritated by the other woman she couldn't see straight. Then of course, there was the fact that this other woman wanted Inuyasha…and naturally that didn't sit well with her at all. That, in and of itself, was enough to make her mad.

She turned and fully faced Kikyo, lowered her head, pinned her ears, and felt her hair rise up on her back. To top it all off and show just how pissed she was she bared her fangs, sending the universal " _fuck you_ " in dog language.

Kikyo was not pleased and sent her arrow flying.

Kagome charged up her claws and waited till she could bat the arrow aside with her paw and she advanced, charging up her other paw. She stalked closer, watching Kikyo's hands, waiting for the telltale signs she would lose an arrow. When she did, Kagome was ready and batted it aside like the last, never missing a step on her steady advance. She didn't need to go fast, she just needed to get closer. She kept slowly stalking Kikyo, batting aside her arrows with one charged up paw while she loaded the other with energy for the next arrow…over and over.

Kikyo was eventually forced to start backing up, otherwise she would be within striking distance. Similarly, Kagome had to be careful with her distance as well, if she got too close she wouldn't have enough time to dodge a projectile, so she needed to get just close enough to leap those last few feet and hit her with everything she had.

Eventually Kikyo could retreat no further. Seeing this, Kagome judged her distance, stalked just close enough, and then made the last mad dash as Kikyo was charging up her next arrow. The arrow went wide, slicing Kagome's shoulder but nothing else, and the younger woman was already on top of her. She bowled Kikyo over, the energy bow shattering in her hands as she toppled to the ground. Kagome didn't want to kill her, she just wanted to beat her, so she bared her teeth and went to bite her on the shoulder, hoping that would be enough to get her to surrender.

And that was when she remembered that Kikyo could also transform, because suddenly she was dealing with a much larger, furry body with fangs. Two hind feet planted themselves in her solar plexus and kicked her back. She was tossed through the air, and landed hard on her back, winded and scrambling to right herself. She did, but only just in time as Kikyo came for her, apparently mad enough and pushed hard enough to use her dog form. Kagome hustled back at top speed, nearly tripping over herself as she put some distance between them. She got a look at the other dog. Kikyo's fur was black like hers, but was strait instead of slightly curly. Kagome knew her ruff stuck out and was slightly fluffy while Kikyo's lay smooth and flat, her coat glossy and shiny. She was jet black except for her paws being pure white.

Kagome knew that Inuyasha possessed red streaks under his eyes as a dog and Kikyo also had red markings on her face, though they were slightly different. She had two thin lines on her cheeks way further back on her cheeks and met almost in a v. Kagome wondered absentmindedly if she had red marks on her face as well.

Her observations were cut short though as Kikyo charged, her movements swift and graceful and obviously eager to end the fight quickly.

Kagome swiftly went back into fight mode and met Kikyo's advance with a charge of her own. As they met in the middle and began to trade blows, Kagome began to realize that Kikyo refused to use her mouth, only slashing with her claws with a dancer's grace. That gave Kagome a slight edge, because she was totally willing to bite if it meant she won.

Kikyo sent a slashing of claws at Kagome's chest, an attack which Kagome only barely dodged by throwing herself to the side, her paws landing and skidding in the dirt as she crouched to maintain balance. She still got slashed pretty good, and bared her fangs, in both pain and aggression. Bunching her haunches under her, she spun her rear around and threw herself at Kikyo's flank, one paw aiming high to try and get a hold on her.

Kikyo slid her rump to the side to back out of Kagome's reach. Kagome ended up landing short, her paws planting in the ground before she reached Kikyo's side and she was forced to fold her back legs down and under her, curling in on herself to try and counterbalance the weight of her front so she wouldn't topple head first into the ground. Shifting her weight to her back paws she leapt back and to the side, her front half twisting around through the air to get out of the way as Kikyo used her unbalance to kick her in the face with her hind paw. The blow glanced and cut her cheek, but did little else.

She landed on her front paws and let herself fall to the ground into a swift barrel roll to get all four paws under her again quickly, using the instincts within her to move as this body demanded. Her feet landed under her with some momentum still going to she had to plant herself and slide back, her paws leaving shallow trenches in the ground in her wake. Not wasting any time, she swung back around and made another attack, coming head on this time. She knew they were going to connect and lowered her head, ready. Sure enough, Kikyo rose up a little, one paw coming down hard on Kagome's head and shoulder as she came in. The blow cut deeply and would have sent her flying, except at the last second Kagome had jerked her head forwards and had locked her jaws onto Kikyo's other leg, sending them both tumbling to the ground nose over tail.

Kagome refused to let go, biting down as hard as she could, not enjoying the sensation of teeth against bone in the slightest and having her neck yanked badly in the process of tumbling, but she wanted to get as much damage on her as possible. Once they landed though, she released her and instead began to claw and bite at whatever was readily available. For a moment they were a mess of tangled limbs teeth and claws as they scrabbled against each other, Kikyo still refusing to use her fangs.

Quickly enough they separated, Kikyo with a good limp.

Kagome already had a limp because of the arrow wound in her thigh and shoulder, not to mention he gashes caused by Kikyo's claws, but she did her best to push through the pain and used her injured limbs to the full of her ability. Not giving Kikyo a chance to recover, Kagome barreled right back at her, going in low and fast again since it had worked last time. This time however, Kikyo sent blazing lines of claw marks flying through the air at her and though Kagome hustled to send her own slashes, they didn't block it all and the remainder of it sent her flying, even more deep cuts injuring her. By now she was a mess and knew she didn't have too much longer, she was bleeding heavily already and could feel herself weakening.

But this was not only for her life anymore. Yes, she would die if she left…but more than that, she would be separated from everyone she now cared about. Shippō. Kaede. Sango. Miroku. And Kilala. Her friends, her family now…she would never see them again.

And of course, she would never see Inuyasha again. She would be forever separated from him, and that was unacceptable. She simply refused to hand him over to this bitch.

At least by now Kikyo had some nasty wounds of her own to contend with, the one on her leg being the worst and making it impossible for Kikyo to use that paw and leg. Kagome had severed the tendons with her bite, rendering it limp. With that, Kagome had a slim shot of winning, but only if she did it fast. So, with that thought in mind, she rushed Kikyo one more time, expecting and dodging the claw marks.

As she made contact, Kikyo was finally forced to bite, but she was obviously not used to it and her fangs didn't go as deep as they should have to hold onto Kagome. Able to break the bite on her shoulder, Kagome swung around, knocked Kikyo's head aside by bashing her own head to the side and into her opponent's. To distract her she used her claws to slice at Kikyo's already injured leg, which had her flinching back and rearing up a little to get away from Kagome's paws. And Kagome used her lower position, bunching her legs up under her and throwing herself against Kikyo again, putting every ounce of strength she had left into her hind legs to shove her chest up into the other woman's, toppling her over backwards. And as they tumbled backwards, Kagome managed to get her jaws around Kikyo's throat, biting down only hard enough to keep her mouth there. They landed, sort of tangled up again, but with Kagome on top, sort of on her feet, with her teeth still around Kikyo's throat. She still didn't bite down, only held her there as Kikyo used the claws of her feet to desperately scratch and claw at Kagome's underbelly. Wincing, she bit down harder, still not enough to kill her, but definitely enough to warn her.

Kagome could taste blood now and knew if she bit even the slightest bit more she would puncture some really important stuff, and Kikyo knew it too, having trouble breathing as well with the tight compression, so finally she stop struggling.

Kagome wasn't going to let her go, not until she conceded defeat or unless she passed out. After a long moment Kikyo finally wheezed, "Well, will you finish it?"

Kagome, of course, couldn't say anything, nor could she nod or shake her head given her current position, so she did nothing and let her silence and immobility speak for her. Kikyo still refused to give up, she refused to conceded defeat, and so Kagome refused to let her go, knowing that eventually Kaede had to call an end to it. After a bit more she was proven correct when she felt a hand land upon her head and the older woman's voice say, "That is enough Kagome, ye have won. Let Kikyo go now."

Kagome gratefully unclamped her jaw, wincing as her jaw muscles spasmed and cramped, and then backed off, limping as she went. Kikyo, in the end, was in better shape aside from that one leg, having sustained a good amount of clawing and biting but nothing deadly, even her throat wound was not too terrible since Kagome had refused to bite hard enough to inflict any serious damage, it was only painful.

Kagome, on the other hand, had sustained more slashes from energy claw marks, which were deeper since Kikyo had longer practice using that technique. Thankfully none of them had actually severed any important muscles or arteries, but they were still bleeding quite profusely. She had also received many shallower claw marks from Kikyo's actual claws, and several arrow wounds on top of that. None of her wounds were fatal in and of themselves, she didn't think, but conjointly they were proving to be quite unpleasant indeed, and would probably kill her if she didn't get some sort of treatment soon. The claw marks on her belly particularly pained her and she glanced down between her front paws to see strips of hide dangling down, blood dripping freely and painting the ground beneath her red. Those were worse than the others since Kikyo had had a clear shot and had used it repeatedly and viciously for a minute or so before Kagome had clamped her jaws tighter to stop her. She hadn't wanted to risk biting harder on Kikyo's neck and had held off probably longer than she should have judging by the damage she now saw.

Over all, Kagome was in a lot of pain and so she sat down and watched the proceedings. Inuyasha was yelling from his position on the ground, "Oi! The fight's done! Let me up you old hag!"

"Ye will have yer motion back in a minute Inuyasha, be patient." Kaede called back and then turned to Kikyo. "Kikyo, ye have lost. By the parameters ye set, as the loser of this challenge, ye will have all pack rights stripped and be exiled."

Kagome blinked, shocked into stillness for a moment. Her eyes flicked to Kikyo's, who had already turned back into a human. She was cradling her heavily bleeding arm and had already ripped a piece of her kimono off to wrap it tightly to stop the bleeding. Her neck looked a little bloody, but certainly not as bad as Kagome's had been only a while ago. Over all, she looked bruised and bloody, and thoroughly beaten up, but not on death's door by any means. Her expression was composed, not showing anything. Yet, as Kagome looked into her eyes, she saw deep sorrow and saw her look towards Inuyasha and then towards the village for a brief instant and her brows contracted into a mournful scrunch, but then smoothed out.

"I understand. I will be gone by daybreak of tomorrow."

Though flat, her voice held notes of despair, and Kagome heaved a sigh, knowing she couldn't let this happen. This woman was a pain in the ass for sure, but she was also a warrior that this pack needed. She also obviously cared for the pack and the village, and the sorrow in her eyes was genuine, and so sharp and pained that Kagome herself felt a piercing of it in her own heart in empathy. She might not like the woman, but she couldn't see her thrown out of her own pack just because she lost a stupid challenge. So, she forced herself to ignore the fact that if their roles had been reversed, Kikyo would have been way more than happy to throw Kagome's butt out onto the street.

Kagome had to shift to make her wishes known though, and in her current condition that was going to hurt like hell and probably not be too good for her. She didn't even know how those dangly bits of flesh were going to fit into the mix. Still, it had to be done, so she took a deep breath, relaxed to the best of her ability and let her instincts take over to shift her back into a human form. Thankfully, this time she actually had managed to use the incantation, having completed that at least the first attempt at shifting before having to dodge an arrow and change tactics, and so she was clothed when she shifted back, not that that was necessarily good for her stomach wounds.

Her wounds stretched and tore and she was left on her knees, grimacing and silently apologizing to Sango for another ruined set of clothes as blood swiftly began to stain the cloth. In this smaller body her blood loss was worse, and so she only had a few moments to fix the problem. Quickly, she lunged forwards and snagged Kaede's sleeve, yanking on it to get her attention.

"Kagome! Ye are dangerously wounded, we must tend to ye."

Ignoring that for the moment, she pointed at Kikyo, and then shook her head, mouthing ' _she stays_.' It took a little more gesturing to get her point across, and Kaede raised an eyebrow as she finally got the message.

"Ye wish for her to not suffer the consequences of her own challenge?" Kagome nodded. With a sigh and both brows lifted now, Kaede gave her an intense look, then nodded. "Very well, as the victor it is within yer power to pardon yer opponent. Kikyo, ye are free to remain in the pack and village."

Kikyo, for once, looked shocked, her eyes wide, staring at Kagome like she was an alien.

To be honest, Kagome didn't really care too much at the moment anymore about Kikyo now that she knew she wouldn't be kicked out, she was a little too preoccupied with how her vision was starting to get all squirrely. Suddenly feeling amazingly dizzy, she couldn't tell which way was up or down anymore, or even if she was sitting upright. It quickly became apparent that no, she was keeling over backwards, a fact made much more obvious when her fall was halted in progress by a chest and pair of arms clothed in a familiar red robe.

She looked up to see a pair of yellow eyes looking back down into hers, a pair of very concerned looking eyes. She could see his mouth moving, but strangely the words were lost somewhere between her ears and her brain, because she had no idea what he was saying to her. So, she was relegated to staring up at him blankly, hopelessly confused. Quickly picking up on the fact that she wasn't altogether there, he looked over to Kaede, Kagome supposed, though she couldn't see the older woman, and he began to speak to her, very urgently. And then things were moving, the sky was moving, she was moving, and it took her a full minute to figure out that Inuyasha had picked her up and was now hastily carrying her, probably to Kaede's hut.

At that point Kagome passed out, welcoming the blackness and the escape from the pain that it held.

Unfortunately, the unconsciousness only lasted so long, and soon she was coming to, against her will really, and she struggled to stay unaware. However, the sensation of something extremely painful shooting through her gut suddenly had her sitting bolt upright and wide awake. The sitting up part didn't work out to well, for several reasons. One, it hurt too much and she ended up stopping midway to instead aim for a curled up fetal position. That still didn't really work because someone was holding down her shoulders.

So, she tried curling her bottom half up.

"Sango! Assist Inuyasha in holding her still!"

Kagome heard Kaede's voice and blearily looked towards the noise, finally getting her eyes to focus enough to see her. She was in the process of applying some sort of ointment to her wounds, the current ones being treated were of course, the ones on her stomach, which explained the pain. It stung like acid melting her skin, or so her feverish and anemic brain thought.

She couldn't help but try to get away from it, the sensation being so unpleasant that her body simply did it automatically. Thankfully Sango had grabbed hold of her thighs and was now pinning her to the mat from there. That just left the person holding down her shoulders, but she already knew their identity based on the curtain of long white hair that draped on either side of her own head from the person above her. She had to look through the white strands to see Kaede.

Looking up, she was unsurprised to see Inuyasha looking back down at her.

Inuyasha stared down into Kagome's amber brown eyes and wished he could somehow take that pained, confused, and dazed expression away. He hated the way she looked up at him helplessly, asking with her eyes what the hell was going on and why did it hurt so much. She obviously recognized him at least, which was more than what she had been able to manage for a while, and he hoped maybe her recuperative powers were finally catching up to her wounds now that they had staunched the blood flow.

That had been the first order of business, to stop her from bleeding out. It had taken several of them. Sango, Inuyasha, and Shippō pressed cloths to her most bloody wounds to stop the blood flow, while Kaede put together poultices that would help clot the blood and Miroku gathered supplies and handed them to her as she barked orders. Even demons could die from blood loss, even though it was rare, and Kagome had received enough deep wounds to be at risk. None of the wounds themselves had been dangerous, just very painful. It was a blessing they hadn't hit any vital organs. Kikyo had received a more dangerous injury in the sense that if it didn't heal properly it could lame her for some time, perhaps even permanently. Amazingly, Kagome's injuries hadn't severed any important tendons or muscles, only cutting deeply into the tissues in short gashes but not completely severing anything.

So, once the bleeding problem had been taken care of, it was a simple matter to clean the wounds and then put an antiseptic tincture onto them. It was this part that hurt, because the herbs used in the paste Kaede smeared into Kagome's injuries were ones that stung like a mother fucker, and Inuyasha himself knew how bad they hurt from personal experience, in fact he much rathered to tend to his own wounds thanks to this shit.

He winced in sympathy as Kagome cringed, but he held her still, knowing that for cuts this deep it was a good idea even for a demon to put an ointment on them. This was the last bit, and thankfully it didn't last too long and they could start wrapping her up in bandages.

Kagome had a cloth draped over her breasts to preserve her modesty as they worked on her, though both males had been forced to close their eyes at one point since she had sustained some damage to one of her shoulders that sliced down into her chest.

Once Kaede was finally done smearing ointment onto her wounds, they bandaged her, at which point Kagome finally seemed to slip back into unconsciousness, but not before her hand had latched onto a fistful of Inuyasha's red fire rat haori. She refused to let go, clinging to him so fiercely that once everything was said and done he had no option but to park his butt right there next to the mat she was laying on, not that he had planned to do anything else. One by one the rest of their friends left Kaede's hut, leaving them alone in the back room, the private living area of the Alpha's den. Inuyasha could hear people coming and talking to Kaede out in the front room, but none of them came back here, for which he was grateful. Strangely he found being alone with her was soothing for him too, his nerves still rattling around from being forced to watch the fight while not being able to help. It had been utter hell to not be able to protect her, and from Kikyo no less.

He had never expected to have to protect his new prospective mate from his old prospective mate, although he should have perhaps seen something like this coming at some point. He already knew Kikyo didn't like to share and was very controlling, and that combined with her highly suspicious nature was a recipe for badness in Kagome's case, as had already been proven. He still cared about Kikyo; she had been a friend, and more than that she had been a comrade for a long time, and of course tender feelings towards another didn't just disappear overnight. He still had a soft spot for Kikyo, but today if he had been allowed, he would have definitely fought her to protect Kagome. He couldn't help but feel betrayed by her, that she had taken it this far. For some reason it felt as though she had attacked him personally and not just Kagome.

He was glad Kagome had stopped Kikyo from being exiled from the pack, but he didn't really want to see her anytime soon either.

Right now he was perfectly content sitting here next to Kagome. She was now dressed in a plain white sleeping yukata and her face was peaceful. Her hand still fisted in his red haori, and he lightly touched the tightly clenched fist with a clawed finger. Looking down at her sleeping face, he was struck by how pretty she was. It was something he had already noticed plenty of times before of course, but with her asleep it was easier for him to stare and admire her unabashedly without risk of her catching him. He propped his head up on one hand and settled in, just drinking his fill of staring at her. She was endlessly fascinating to him, and now so much more.

He could feel his chest getting suspiciously tight, a sensation he had slowly grown to get used to over these past few weeks. Was this truly what love felt like? He hadn't expected it to feel so weird and uncomfortable and yet strangely nice at the same time. It still confused him.

As his feelings swelled within him, he grew more antsy, wanting to do more than just sit here next to her. When he tried to move, her fist clenched in his shirt harder and he snorted, amused and at the same time touched by it. Shedding his red outer shirt easily, he was left in his white kosode. She grabbed his red fire rat robe and then hugged it to her, burying her face in the red folds. He grinned softly, feeling his heart squeeze harder in his chest for a moment.

He slid his legs out to the side and then lay down on his flank, stretching out next to her. She was on her back, sort of curved towards him, and he very gently wrapped his arms around her, mindful of her healing wounds, and then gathered her to him and held her. He buried his nose in her black hair and inhaled her scent. His nostrils curled a little at the scent of her blood, the smell sending a shock of anxiety through him. He kissed the top of her head softly, restraining his instinctual urge to lick her, especially with the scent of her being wounded.

Her scent still soothed and excited him, along with making him all tight inside, for multiple reasons. He hated the scent of her wounded, but he still loved her scent, the warmth and sweetness and slightly floral hints, along with that hint of musk and the scent of Kagome herself, it all intoxicated him and he wanted to bury himself in that smell, cover his own scent with it. Strangely he also wanted to cover her in his own scent, and absentmindedly he rubbed his mouth again on her forehead. He could feel the scent glands in his mouth start to produce his scent marker.

Demons had two sets of scent glands, ones in the mouth and ones in the sexual organs, and the best way to scent mark was, of course, to spray. It was basically peeing, though the clear liquid involved was not urine. Unlike most animals, a demon's marking did not actually contain urine, instead it was clear and was simply a salty solution that contained that individual's scent marker. The scent glands in the genital area also meant that basically rubbing your crotch into anything also placed your scent marker on it. Other than that, the scent glands in the mouth were mostly saliva in nature meaning licking or spitting could place a scent marker if the glands were actively producing the tasteless, slightly oily substance that produced the scent marker. Aside from the smell, it was mostly unnoticeable to the demon making it, and felt like they simply had more saliva than usual in their mouth. The scent marker was not a stench; it didn't smell foul unless it was created by a foul smelling demon. It was simply a highly concentrated version of that demon's smell with a slightly different scent to it.

At this particular moment, Inuyasha's instincts were screaming for him to place his scent onto Kagome, but he refrained. That was part of claiming a mate, and she certainly hadn't agreed to anything of the sort. Not yet anyways. He felt like maybe they were heading in that direction rather quickly, but he didn't want to speed up the process, not without her fully on board. So he swallowed all the saliva gathering in his mouth and simply pressed another kiss to her before nuzzling more into her hair.

He fell asleep like that, holding her in his arms and breathing in her scent.

KAGOME POV

An unknown amount of time later, she woke, slowly, and this time without agony racking her frame. Instead she felt quite comfortable, mostly. One of her arms was trapped under her in a slightly uncomfortable manner and had sort of fallen asleep in the process, but it wasn't her injured side so it didn't bother her too much.

She stretched a little and tried to move, but quickly found that she was being restrained by something, something warm and a little on the heavy side of things. Opening her eyes, she blearily peered at the thing wrapped around her, slowly realizing that it was an arm. She followed the arm up to a shoulder, and then to the white hair draped over said shoulder. It was Inuyasha. He had wrapped her up in his arms and was currently holding her, and he seemed fast asleep. She blinked and moved slowly, turning to face him fully and then sitting up a little, his arm tightening every now and then before letting her slide her frame around, and then tightening around her again where it settled.

She could feel a soft smile tugging at her lips as she looked down at him sleeping next to her.

Her movement had stirred him a little, and soon he was opening his own eyes to stare up at her, blinking a few times before it seemed he finally got his eyes in focus. Once he saw her, they popped wide open and he sat up abruptly, grabbing her shoulders and looking into her face urgently.

"Kagome! You're awake?!"

She nodded and gave him a ' _well obviously'_ kind of look.

He sighed, his grip on her shoulders gentling a little. "How are ya feelin?"

She shrugged and then winced at the slight sting the motion gave her.

"Better I guess huh?"

She nodded.

"Good."

Kaede of course came in when she heard Kagome's voice, and proceeded to check on her, asking her how her wounds felt. Then she was fed, clothed better, and given some herbal tea to help her heal faster. After all of that she felt kind of like escaping, not wanting to risk hanging around and have Kaede put more sting-y poultices on her wounds. So, making an excuse, she left, which Kaede allowed because she seemed to have healed. And she had mostly, the pain had faded a great deal but she could feel a few spots where there were still some sharp pains, and of course she ached all over.

Inuyasha accompanied her on a walk. It was a slightly warmer day, probably the last of its kind for a while, so she was glad she was able to enjoy it with a lovely walk through the woods. That seemed to be what she was doing a lot these days, walking through the woods.

Still, walking with Inuyasha was always fun, and after a while they came to a slight opening in the trees where the river ran through. There wasn't a large bank like at the other spot Inuyasha had shown her, but it was just as pretty, and they paused to admire the small rapids that had never truly frozen over. In fact, there was no frost today, it had all melted away under the uncommon warmth of the sun.

Finding it lovely, and needing a little rest, Kagome sat on a gnarled up tree root that was sticking up into the air and watched the water go by, thinking back to how she had always wanted to do this back behind the wall. That seemed so long ago now, a whole different life time; it was weird to think about.

Inuyasha parked himself next to her.

"You tired?"

She shrugged a little, and then winced again. How it was that she kept forgetting not to do that she didn't quite know. He noticed of course.

"Your shoulder still hurts?"

She made a sour face and nodded.

"Let me see." He leaned closer, conveniently already being on that side, and grabbed the collar of her tunic, pulling it off her shoulder.

Her eyes went wide and she blushed hotly, her hands coming up quickly to hold the collar closed above her breasts, which stymied his progress a bit.

With an irritable huff and a tsking sound he said, "Huh… Kagome just let me see already so I can help it heal, why you gotta be so difficult all the damn time?"

She scowled and swatted at him before taking charge of the situation and lowering the shoulder herself in such a way that wouldn't expose her chest. He huffed again but didn't say anything for once, instead just leaning close to get a look at it. He peeled back the bandages and let them dangle down her front.

"Yeah, it's still pretty raw." He mumbled and then leaned in further.

She flinched, although she should have expected it, when his tongue made contact with the wound. With a sigh she relaxed into it after a moment. It wasn't like they hadn't done this before after all, and she thoroughly enjoyed the attention even if it still was a bit embarrassing for the shy young woman.

She tried to whisper "… _thank you,_ " but of course it came out sounding all wrong and not really understandable.

"Hm?" His head came up a little and he looked at her inquisitively.

She mouthed _'thank you_.'

"Oh, yeah, your welcome." He mumbled, looking a little embarrassed and uncomfortable himself as a slight blush dusted his cheeks, his ears tilted a bit sideways down his head, and he averted his gaze, going back in to finish tending to her.

Glancing down and to the side she could see his face out of the corner of her eye and saw his closed eyes and expression of concentration. He was so beautiful to her, so sweet, even if he was an ass sometimes. But it was times like these, where he really was gentle and tender, that she felt her heart throb in her chest harder than ever before.

Before she knew what she was saying she was breathing the words, ' _I wish_ …' but then stopped herself from saying anything else.

His ears twitched and he hummed against her skin in a questioning sort of grunt.

She just shook her head and breathed '… _nothing,_ ' although she wasn't sure he could understand her.

His ears twitched some more and then his head came up again and he stared into her eyes intently, a strange, slightly sad look in them. After a long, oddly intense moment, he dipped his head again, this time going to her throat for no reason she could see. She hadn't been hurt on her neck this time, so there was no reason for him to lick it, but that was what he was doing, along with a few kisses.

Then there was a soft sad sigh and she heard him whisper, "…damn it Kagome, I wish I could heal your voice for you…if only…shit."

She swallowed thickly and quickly closed her eyes, feeling the telltale sting of tears. They were tears of love and joy and sadness, but she knew he wouldn't understand the reason behind them and would upset him. He would think he had said something wrong, so she squeezed them back.

* * *

Author's Note:

And there you have it! The final confrontation between Kikyo and Kagome! We all knew they had to duke it out at some point, I hope it lived up to everyone's expectations. :D

As always, reviews are greatly enjoyed. And a huge sparkly thanks to everyone who has reviewed...you guys keep me writing stories! Without you I'd just feel like I was submitting words to air.


	15. Chapter 15

As close as she had gotten to her goal, her time was finally beginning to run out. It was already the day before the last day of her last week, and Kagome still hadn't made Inuyasha her mate. This fact kept her awake that night as she pondered her fate, wondering if she could possibly speed things along tomorrow to the point Inuyasha would claim her. Somehow she doubted it.

They had progressed rapidly in their relationship, and she was pretty sure he had feelings for her, in fact she was positive he had feelings for her, she just wasn't sure what exactly those feelings were. Was it love? Was it strong enough to want to claim her as his forever mate? Were three weeks even enough time to know?

Probably not, though Kagome felt like she was ready to make that commitment, but perhaps that was simply naivety speaking. But she wanted to believe that she knew herself enough to know that at least. She knew without a doubt that she loved him, and she already knew he was her forever love, the one that she would always remember if it didn't work out, so that surely was enough for her, but what about Inuyasha? If she was this nervous still, even knowing all that, how must he feel? Certainly not ready to take such a big leap in just one day, which meant she was truly up a creek.

She couldn't push him, she refused to try and communicate the problem, not wanting to force him into such an important decision.

The next day, she went out for a walk, hoping the cold, frosty mist of the morning would somehow clean out her brain and help her to figure out what to do. The weather wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was certainly beautiful and she found herself gazing in awe at the forest as she entered it, admiring the glittering frost coating the leaves of the trees while the swirling mist seemed to kiss all the grass blades, coating them in fresh frost. It was truly a breathtaking sight, and not just because it was so cold that her breath hurt in her lungs.

Still, she quickly found herself shivering violently, and was now physically miserable along with her mental agony. She had hoped that the physical discomfort might distract her, but it just seemed to be making her mood worse.

So wrapped up in her thoughts was she that she didn't hear the crunching of someone approaching from behind, and was unaware of their presence until a pair of arms wrapped around her middle. She gasped and then coughed on the painfully cold air as she was tugged into a warm chest. If Inuyasha hadn't whispered in her ear, "Calm the fuck down, it's just me, Stupid," she would have begun struggling, but at the sound of his voice she calmed immediately, and then curled even further into him, gratefully absorbing his warmth.

"So…what exactly are you doin' out here?" He asked her softly, sounding mildly irritated.

She sighed and then tapped her head.

"Thinkin? About what?"

There wasn't really any way she could think of to communicate that she was thinking about her predicament and the contract she had made with that witch, or that she was worried about being taken tomorrow. She had no idea what would happen to her. Would she be killed? Turned into a mushroom? Who the heck knew?

Absentmindedly she winced, remembering her last encounter with the woman. It had ended with the most pain she had ever endured, even including all her battles and battle injuries. Having her throat ripped out had been the worst by far, and beyond that it had felt utterly wrong in the most disturbing way possible, like it was something that should never, ever happen. The thought made her hand rise up to her throat, fingering the skin and the slight scarring there from her battle wounds. It throbbed in remembered pain and she swallowed thickly. If that had been the payment for her service, she didn't even want to imagine what the payment would be for failing to complete her part of the bargain.

Inuyasha naturally noticed the movement and eyed her contemplatively, arriving at only one conclusion. "You thinking about that woman who took your voice?"

She flinched, then after a long moment hesitantly nodded.

"So what're ya worried about?"

When she didn't respond, he thought about it for a moment, before eventually being smacked in the face by the obvious answer. "Hey, wait, didn't you say you had some sort of contract to complete, one that gave you three weeks to do it in?"

At her nod, he continued, "Well, have you completed it?"

She shook her head ' _no_ ,' her shoulders slumping.

He began counting. The words he started mumbling to himself didn't make any logical sense to her, but it apparently made sense to him as he did half of his counting out loud. "And…two, one, three, four, yesterday was, and then, so…yeah, today is your last day to finish right?"

Again she nodded.

"You gonna do it?"

She shrugged and shook her head hopelessly, not knowing, but highly doubting it.

"Well, why not? What is it anyway?"

She hung her head, staring at her feet and unaware that her eyes had begun to produce tears until her vision blurred a little. Inuyasha knew right away by the smell and grabbed her shoulders, turning her around rather harshly.

"Hey! Hey! Oi! Are you…? You are! Stop crying! Don't - don't cry … come on Kagome. Crap, I can't stand it when you cry."

She sniffled and tried to stop, succeeding somewhat though a few lone, fat droplets snuck out. She just felt so hopeless, not sure what to do. She didn't want to force him, even though he was basically begging her to tell him, but she knew he would feel like he _had_ to fulfill his part so she could fulfill her contract. She hated the thought that maybe it would turn out to be the wrong choice for him. Heck, she didn't know if he had totally written of Kikyo yet. For all she knew, he might still be considering her as a mate.

So, she just looked up at him, giving him a smile through her tears. It was all she could do really. At this point she just loved him so much and wanted him to be hers, but didn't know how to make that happen. Still, as pained as she was - her heart feeling like it had already given up and was now jumping off the gallows to strangle itself, given just how tight it felt in her chest - she also felt so insanely, strangely, oddly happy. He was here, with her, showing concern for her, obviously worried about her, showing that he cared, and that in and of itself made it impossible not to smile at him. It was a weird smile, she knew, it felt weird on her face.

As her eyes locked onto his she could sense how intense and vulnerable her own gaze was, based on his expression of shock and then concern that was written once more upon his face as he stared intently into her eyes, trying to wordlessly find the answers to his questions. Having no other way to communicate her desires, all she could do was reach up on tiptoe to kiss him, gently and shortly, only a brief brush of her mouth over his, and yet she tried to put every ounce of feeling she had into that one gesture, everything about it soft and tender, even down to her hand going up to ever so lightly caress his cheek.

Then, knowing he wouldn't be able to understand her but unable to stop herself, she said in her whisper soft non-voice, _'I did this for you. You asked me why, and that's the answer. The witch told me she could turn me into a demon, so I could be with you, in your world, instead of stuck behind those stupid walls. You were hurt, I didn't know how badly, and she showed me a false vision of you…dying. So…so I didn't really have a choice. I couldn't stand the thought of you dying because of me, and I already cared for you so much, even though I had only cared for you while you were unconscious. You were a fascination, nearly an obsession, and I was already attached, emotionally, way more than I should have been. The conditions of the agreement were that I had to make you fall in love with me too, and then have you become my mate. I didn't know what I was signing up for, I thought she just meant I was supposed to have you become my boyfriend…courting in your words. Now of course I know that she was just setting me up for failure, picking a challenge she thought was impossible and went with my own goals to sucker me into it. I know it's impossible for me to ask you to mate me, when we've only known each other three weeks, or at least you've only known me three weeks. I've known you much longer of course. I just wish…I wish we'd had more time together, because, if nothing else comes of this, I do know that I love you. And I'm happy for that. Even if I die, I'm happy that I got the chance to know you, and love you.'_

Inuyasha stared at her with wide eyes, obviously not understanding much of what she had said, but apparently getting some of it.

He couldn't stop staring at her, then again he had to watch her mouth carefully to try and understand even a tiny bit of what she was trying to tell him. It was tantamount to how much lip reading he had been doing lately that he could understand as much as he could.

She spoke to him, in that nearly impossible to understand, barely audible breathy way she could, and he listened with every ounce of concentration and comprehension he could muster. His ears cranked all the way forward to catch each and every breathy sound of air that escaped her mouth and throat. He couldn't understand most of what she was saying, but a few words and phrases stood out, and shocked him to his core.

Gulping thickly, he suddenly, desperately needed to know what she had said to him, and so he turned, the only thought in his head getting back to Kaede now.

"Come on, we're gonna get your voice back, if it's the last thing I do."

Dragging her, he went swiftly to Kaede, hoping there was something she could do, anything at all to bring Kagome's voice back. It was a futile hope, more than futile in fact and he knew it. If there was something she could do she would have already, and yet he suddenly found himself desperate to try anything, anything at all, needing to hear what Kagome had just said to him with her voice. He had only been able to make out some of it, and the parts he thought that he knew didn't make sense. It had seemed like she was saying that the contract had to do with him, and unless she had been assigned to kill him or something he couldn't imagine what it was she had agreed to.

And that didn't make sense either, because this was the part she had signed up for right? If his hunches were correct, she had been turned into a demon for some sort of purpose. If that purpose had to do with him, then what could it be? It had looked like…like she had said something like…'mate,' but how could that tie into it? Was her goal to become his mate within three weeks? But that didn't make sense either, and why would she agree to those terms, and why in the heck would those terms even be set…unless it was simply something that the witch had thought would be impossible. Utterly confused and feeling very hot around the collar, he nearly barreled blindly through the woods, not watching where he was going.

He had already seriously considered her as his mate, yet…this was not just a fantasy, this was reality and somehow they were two very different things. While he had finally grown semi-comfortable with the fact that he frequently fantasized about someday making Kagome his mate, he had never thought it would truly become a reality. Despite the fact that she had shown him every sign that she was down for it, he was just so used to the idea that no one would ever want to become his mate that it hadn't really translated. Did she? Did she really, in truly, in this actual world of reality want to be his mate, to claim him as hers and vice a versa? Was it even possible?

All arrows pointed at 'yes,' and not just 'yes,' but if he was right then it had to happen today, a prospect which had his knees shaking almost literally. All his muscles in fact felt rather quivery, and not in an altogether unpleasant way. It was like he was overdosing on adrenaline and dopamine, floating almost, and yet shivering from excitement at the same time. Did he want to? Yes. Absolutely. No question. But…it was so fast, so soon … too soon, he didn't even really know what to do to prepare for something like this.

So, he ran all the way back to Kaede's hut, burst in, and proceeded to demand if there was any way to get Kagome's voice back, any way at all.

Kaede looked up at him, sighing exasperatedly under her breath about how rude he was and then slowly stood. "As I've said before Inuyasha, the only way to possibly get her voice back is to kill the witch."

Inuyasha thought about this for a long moment, and then a determined look spread across his face. "Fine. Yeah, that'll work for me. I wanna kill her anyway for doing this to Kagome in the first place."

Both women were left to look at him, a bit shocked. He turned to Kagome and fixed her with his stare, stating, "Don't you worry Kagome, I'm gonna go get me a witch." Then he turned as if to run out of the hut on a witch hunting expedition right then and there.

She grabbed onto his sleeve, preventing him from leaving. There was no way. That witch was going to come and find her, not the other way around, and she was positive that while Inuyasha went off to find the witch, the witch would come get her. She would be alone and defenseless. Not to mention, if she had even the slightest chance of success, she had to try and get him to make her his mate today, or else. And that would be impossible if he was out hunting down a witch.

He took one look at her terrified expression and stopped, staring. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but he was smart enough to know she didn't want him to leave and, contrary to what he normally would have done, with the way he was feeling right now he found it impossible to pull away and leave her alone with that sort of expression on her face. So, covering up his weakness, he gave a gruff cough and said, "Yeah, well, I guess I could just hang around here and wait for her to show up. Why waste energy when she'll be coming to me?"

Kagome relaxed, and nodded. For the rest of the day he stuck to her like a flea to a dog.

Kaede already had a good idea of what Kagome needed to do to complete her quest, and so began to try and figure out how to help make it happen. She knew it definitely had to do with Inuyasha, and suspected it was of a romantic nature, so she loudly, and pointedly announced, later on in the day as it crept towards evening, "Kagome, Inuyasha, I will be leaving this night to go tend to a very sick patient in their home. Inuyasha, I want ye to stay here and guard Kagome, we do not yet know when the witch will come."

It wasn't even a lie. She did in fact have a patient to tend to in their home, and thanked her lucky stars that fate had been so kind as to align things in this way.

Kagome flushed, catching the slightly calculating look in the older woman's eyes and knew something was up. Inuyasha on the other hand was perfectly serious as he nodded, and then of course blew it all off with a gruff, "Pft, yeah whatever. Just as long as she feeds me."

Kagome scowled, immediately irritable, and then motioned that he would be the one hunting for their meal.

So, later that night he left to go hunting for food to bring them. Kaede and Kagome set the fire ablaze and started on the food they had, preparing a stew for Inuyasha to put his catch in, one that would work for just about any game, and then they waited. Kaede intended to have supper before going to work on her patient, so she was still present.

They waited.

And then they waited some more.

And then Kagome began to grow concerned that something had gone wrong when he still didn't come back.

Sharing a worried look with Kaede, they both set off to try and find him, both of them bringing their bows and arrows just in case. They tracked Inuyasha, and it didn't take long for them to find him, just inside the tree line, holding Kikyo.

That was a shock, but what really made Kagome come to a dead halt, was the fact that they were kissing, and not any little peck either, but a full-out passionate kiss.

Kaede also seemed shocked and after a moment of stunned silence she barked, "Inuyasha!"

He didn't stop immediately and then when he did look up it was with hooded, slightly unfocused eyes. Those eyes cleared for a sharp moment as they landed on Kagome.

"Ka-Kagome?" He asked, and then gasped. "Kagome! I-"

He was interrupted by Kikyo grabbing his head and pulling him back down into the kiss, which he shockingly didn't fight and seemed to become once again immersed into.

After a long moment of staring, unblinking, feeling first shock, then numbness, then horror, and finally cold realization crawled through her. He didn't want her. Or maybe he did, but not in the way she wanted him. She didn't just want to court non-monogamously, she wanted him to be with her and her alone, and this was proof that he did not want that.

It felt like she had been shot in the chest, the pain so great that she winced and grabbed her heart, or where her heart was only a few moments ago. Now, it seemed to be missing, and soon a cold feeling of numbness started to spread, and she welcomed the sensation.

She was going to die… and for a brief moment, terror seized her, making her want to crawl into a hole and hide, but she forced it back, intentionally summoning the numbness once again. She stared blindly, mindless to the tears blurring her vision, and then after a long moment she turned away and began blindly walking into the woods, going to meet her fate with her head held high. There was no escaping the witch, and there wasn't really any need for her to. With the way she felt right now, maybe it was best.

If she had been thinking clearly she would have smacked herself upside the head for being so stupid and mindless - for being fine and dandy with dying simply because her heart had been broken, but the two situations coincided perfectly.

She already had death approaching, and she currently didn't care.

As she turned to walk away she felt Kaede grab her arm, trying to stop her. It was as if she felt it through a million layers of clothing, and it didn't really register.

She numbly continued walking, and Kaede's grip wasn't strong enough, having grabbed just the edge of her sleeve. She pulled free relatively easily and ignored her cries to stop. Kagome was dumb to everything, her mind having fritzed out and fried, all the circuits no longer working properly. It was stupid for her to walk into the woods alone, particularly on this last night, but she honestly didn't think about it, or even really care, even as the cold began to make her body shiver. She didn't feel the cold.

She walked, and then walked some more, letting her feet take her where ever they would.

It had begun snowing, and her feet soon grew numb. The flakes settled on her head, her eyelashes turning white and crusting her vision in frost. It didn't matter, after all she wasn't looking where she was going, as was evidenced by the way she kept tripping over roots to go tumbling to her knees. She didn't feel the pain of her skinned flesh, or if she did she didn't really care.

All she knew at the moment was the sight of Inuyasha kissing Kikyo, and her thoughts were absorbed by one question, _how had she gone so wrong_? She had thought he cared about her…but maybe it just hadn't been enough to make him want to be just with her. Maybe he had never been interested in courting her monogamously.

How had she missed the signs? Why had she thought he had given up on Kikyo for her? Had it just been her imagination? Or had he hidden it from her intentionally?

It just didn't seem possible, and the shock of it was a large cause of the numbness inside her, filling her to the brim with coldness, a cold that was even more penetrating than the ice and snow coating the leaves and forest floor and even the trunks. She was walking through a white world…a fact she felt was appropriate for her sudden grief. It felt as if all the color had been leached out of her, as if all the flowers and sunsets of the world were just figments of her own imagination…a mere fantasy she had indulged in for a brief period of time.

And then the numbness began to give way…the shock wearing off to be replaced with pain, and soon she found herself in a unfamiliar clearing somewhere in the woods. She had no way of knowing how far she had traveled and glanced back behind her to see her deep footprints already slowly being filled in by the constant snowfall. She stared at the disappearing traces of her passage, thinking it was just as well. After all, soon she would be disappearing just like her footprints…covered by snow and erased from existence.

She turned to look up at the night sky, seeing a clear patch in the dark slate of gray that was the snow clouds. That clear patch spread slowly and the snow began to slow, showing her the stars, and gradually the full moon peaked out and illuminated the iced-over scene. It was an achingly lovely sight, the snow glowing white in the full moon while big fat snowflakes gracefully continued to slowly tumble down from the sky like so many falling stars, glowing as they were when they caught the light of the moon.

Standing in the forest clearing, surrounded by shining white, her breath curling up into the air above her, Kagome began to cry. If she had her voice, she would have cried out, sobbed and screamed at the injustice of it all. But as it was, her grief was forced to silence, gagged as was everything else she wanted to say. All the love, all the trust, all the emotions she had wanted to speak to Inuyasha had been stymied, and now all those shattered feelings were likewise forced to silence.

She wanted to weep, to cry to the stars and exclaim her sorrow for their cold beauty to hear, but she was unable to, and her silent tears crawled down her cheeks unfettered, only slowing as they began to freeze to her skin. It was hopeless, her future gone, and though she had felt that she was at peace with her lot, to have everything change so abruptly had knocked her whole existence askew, and suddenly she was forced to wonder if it was all for naught.

She couldn't help but feel the regret beginning to drag her down, and succumbing to a weight even greater than gravity she fell to her knees, face and eyes still turned up to the stars as if asking the heavens, ' _Why_?'

The soft crunch was not felt, only heard as her cold skin met the colder ground, and slowly the iciness seeped into her, seeming to cause her very bones to ache. And still she didn't care, still she didn't move. She simply stayed sitting on her knees, staring up at the sky with tears running down her face, now routing around and through the frozen tracks already inscribed upon her skin.

Her eyelashes were frozen now, and she only wished her heart was the same, to stop the burning pain that squeezed her whole chest despite the ice coating her body. It felt like she was suffocating, as if the ice had clogged up her throat and air couldn't pass through anymore. Her lungs burned with the cold, her gasps coming sharp and fast as she sobbed despite the pain. Her emotions were hurting her far greater than the discomforts of the snow.

If only she could numb herself entirely with the cold…maybe she could. Maybe dying tonight in the ice and snow would be a better fate than the one waiting for her in the witch's claws. Perhaps she could take control after all and at least choose how she died.

With that thought, her eyes slid shut and she felt the small icy particles still falling from the sky settle on the moist skin of her eyelids, freezing them shut. Should she just let them stay shut for the rest of eternity? Was there anything else she wished to see before disappearing?

As Kagome slowly began to lose herself, Kaede meanwhile was in the process of chasing after her, yet her footprints were vanishing too fast for her to track. She soon had Sango, Miroku, Kilala, and Shippō in tow as they all fanned out to find Kagome. The only one missing was Inuyasha, who had vanished with Kikyo almost instantly after Kagome had rushed off. Kaede had had two choices, go after Inuyasha and box his ears, or follow Kagome and try to save her. The second option was the obvious choice, and Kaede hadn't hesitated.

Each one of Kagome's new friends were desperate to find her.

Kaede was calling out to her, and had long since turned into her canine form, an majestic one-eyed silver dog with white stripes in a swirling pattern all down her back. With her superior nose she had done her best to track Kagome by her scent, but all smells washed away with the snow. After hours of fruitless searching, the ancient Alpha raised her muzzle to the sky to loose a mournful howl…acknowledging that she couldn't find one of her children to the night.

Miroku hunted in a different direction, trying to use his intellect to think of where she may have wandered based on the terrain. He didn't have much more luck though, and was forced to return to the village half frozen, probably having stayed out longer than he should have.

Sango had enough foresight to wear much thicker clothing, so she was able to stay out longer. She and Kilala separated to cover more ground, the small cat-demon taking her larger form to go faster and further. The feline traveled through the skies, hunting from above, while Sango traveled the forest floor. The hunter called out for her friend, over and over calling Kagome's name, as all the memories of the past few weeks paraded through her mind, making her eyes water. Despite having only known her new friend for a mere three weeks, Sango already felt indescribably close to Kagome, and the idea of losing her caused shards of fear and pain to shoot through her heart.

Eventually though, Sango and Kilala were forced to return to the village. They arrived some time after Miroku, and upon seeing the state she was in, her potential mate instantly wrapped her in his arms and pulled her into his hut, which was closer. She was nearly frost bitten, ice coating her clothing and falling in thick sheets from her body if she moved a certain way. Kilala was just as bad, her whiskers having frozen and snapped off at some point, and icicles hanging from her tan fur.

Kaede had seen the three of them enter the village and greeted them with a regal nod of her silver head, but her lone eye stayed locked onto the forest, her dog body staying in a seated position with her tail curled over her paws and her ears trained forwards. She looked almost like a gray statue with the dusting of snow already making a hat on her head, which fell as she moved in acknowledgment of the three pack mates returning.

Yet still she stayed, waiting and watching for four more. Kagome, Shippō, Inuyasha, and Kikyo were all still out there, and she intended to wait until they returned.

In the case of the little fox kit, he had no intention of returning until he found his adoptive mom. The tears on his cheeks had long since frozen to them, thick and crackling, and yet he still kept on searching, calling for her with a voice that cracked both from cold and from crying. He was shivering from his head to the tip of his tail and his teeth chattered hard enough to hurt them, but he pressed on through the deep snow, some of it deeper than he was tall occasionally. He refused to return without Kagome, it was simple as that.

Yet none of them were able to find her. It was as if she had vanished into the forest completely.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey folks. Sorry this was a slightly shorter chapter, and certainly very depressing towards the end. We're getting close to the climax though so hang onto your hats!

By the way, would anyone like to hypothesize what exactly happened? I'm interested to hear your theories. ;)

As always, reviews are greatly appreciated, and a huge thanks to all the wonderful people who have reviewed up to this point.

Oh, also, I'm going to be out of town visiting family next week, so I may not be able to post unfortunately.


	16. Chapter 16

For a long while Kagome simply sat, slowly freezing over and becoming part of the landscape. So wrapped up was she in her own misery, that it took her a significant amount of time to hear the cries that had been ongoing since her arrival. It was only after she had accepted her fate and decided to perhaps just die here, when she heard the muffled screams.

They slowly filtered into her brain dulled by the cold, and at first she wasn't sure what to make of them.

Slowly her eyes opened, the ice on them crackling and then breaking apart, leaving her lids bloody. She blearily looked towards the source of the sound, realizing that it sounded like someone calling for help, although it was muffled as if by a gag. Frowning, Kagome shifted, snow falling off her shoulders and head as she did. Very slowly she got to her numb feet, tilting and staggering a bit as she took a stumbling step towards the sound.

Her instincts were telling her to help, even though her heart was still weeping and only wished to give up. But something drove her on, and she winced as the cold made her moving limbs now ache. Reaching the other edge of the clearing, she wound her way through the trees a short ways and soon came upon a cave. The noise was undeniably coming from within, and so Kagome entered, and then stopped short at what she saw there.

It simply didn't compute.

In the cave, leaning up against the rocky wall, was Kikyo, tied up with a gag in her mouth. It was through this gag which her screams had come, muffled and incomprehensible, but still surprisingly loud. With fingers that were trembling with the cold, Kagome carefully cut through her ties with her claws.

Kikyo spat the gag out of her mouth viciously, glaring down at it and quickly freeing herself from the rest of her restraints aggressively, showing just how pissed off she was at the situation.

Kagome was still confused.

She mimed clumsily with her still shaking hands and mouthed, _'what are you doing here?'_ And then she silently tried to say, _'just saw you with Inuyasha?'_ She followed it up with a mime pointing at Kikyo and then the sign for Inuyasha, which was miming a sword swing. Then she mimed kissing, to say she had seen them kissing.

Kikyo got some of it, and made a face, looking rather confused and also shockingly disturbed. "If you just said that you saw me kissing Inuyasha, then you must be mistaken."

Kagome gave her a rather disbelieving look and Kikyo returned the look sharply. "I am telling you the truth."

Well, this opened up a whole new can of worms, and both priestesses seemed to realize it at the same time. Kikyo scowled, facing Kagome. "Are you sure you saw what you think you saw?"

She nodded very hard, absolutely positive about who she saw kissing Inuyasha.

"Then, if I was tied up in here…who…?"

They shared a look, a look between rivals who had just realized that they had a common enemy. Kagome gestured, asking through mimes who had tied her up.

"An old woman, rather hunched over, with long gray hair and buggy eyes."

The description fit Urasue so perfectly that Kagome went pure white, whiter even than the slightly blue/white that she already was from sitting in the snow. Taking in Kagome's utterly petrified expression; Kikyo put two and two together very quickly.

"Does that sound like this witch who you made an agreement with?"

She slowly nodded.

"And is it time for her to collect?"

Another nod.

"Then why is she going after Inuyasha instead?"

Kagome didn't even question the statement. It was obvious by now that the person who had been impersonating Kikyo must have been Urasue. And it was obvious that she was cheating, keeping him from Kagome on her last night to complete the agreement.

Suddenly filled with rage, and also terror at what she might end up doing to Inuyasha, Kagome didn't bother trying to explain to Kikyo and simply ran off through the woods. Saying the mantra quickly, she stored her clothes and transformed on the fly, intent on getting back to the village and trying to find Inuyasha and this other Kikyo. On the way, her sharp nose picked up Shippō's scent. Given the time of night, and the weather, and how far out in the woods she could now sense that she was, it was very concerning that he would be here, and a shot of anxiety stiffened her limbs. She instantly veered off course a bit to find him.

He was huddled under a bush, trembling like a leaf and utterly frozen.

Frozen tears tracked down his face and Kagome flinched, feeling her heart break apart in her own frozen chest as if it had been ice under a hammer. It was obvious that the little kit had come looking for her when she wandered off. It was her fault that he was now miserable and cold and possibly in danger of hypothermia.

Gathering his vest in her jaws to pick him up like a kitten, she dashed thought the forest even faster now, pushing her legs and paws to pump as fast as was demonly possible, to not only get to Inuyasha, but now to get her kit to some sort of warmth. She was petrified at his appearance, and silently she sent him all the strength she could, mentally urging him to hang in there and not die on her. If her little fox child died because of her own stupidity…she would never forgive herself.

She could smell that she was getting close, and soon she was barreling out of the tree line at the edge of the village, and very nearly pile drove right into Kaede, who was sitting like a guardian statue right at the edge of the village. She was in dog form, which Kagome had never seen before, but she instantly knew the Alpha by her scent and the fact that she only had one eye.

That one eye landed on her and relief flooded the elder dog's expression, before landing on Shippō. Both women transformed at the same time and Kagome caught the little frozen bundle in her arms as she did.

"Kagome, what on earth…"

She didn't have time to explain. Handing Shippō over to Kaede, Kagome mimed searching, and then took off after Inuyasha, leaving behind a very concerned elder. Kaede didn't waste any time in getting Shippō warm again, thankful that the little demon's recuperative abilities were able to kick in and prevent any damage from frostbite and hypothermia. Kagome had found him just in time - any later and the little fox would have likely had injuries that wouldn't have been able to heal entirely.

It wasn't until Kikyo showed up a short while later, out of breath and much less composed than normal - also quite frozen and a bit wild eyed - that Kaede began to realize that something had gone terribly wrong, even more than she had suspected. Kikyo very briefly explained what she knew, that she had been tied up and kidnapped by someone she assumed was the witch. She told the Alpha their hypothesis that the witch had taken Kikyo's form to interfere at the last moment and make sure that Kagome wouldn't succeed, though Kikyo didn't know why she had gone after Inuyasha.

"It is my belief that Inuyasha plays a key role in this agreement between Kagome and the witch. What role exactly, I do not know. But if ye were not the one kissing him, then it must be she."

Kikyo nodded, simply saying, "I'll help."

Kaede raised a brow. "Ye wish to help Kagome? I had believed ye to not like her."

Kikyo turned and left the hut, her words lingering behind her. "I…don't." For once her normally serene voice was unsure, as if she wasn't convinced anymore about this fact.

She left without another word, and Kaede cracked a smile, before beginning to prepare some poultices and various other supplies she may need to provide either upon their return or to take to them wherever they may end up.

Meanwhile, Kagome had shifted back to her dog form and was running head-long after the faint scent of Inuyasha. Anyone else may not have been able to pick it up, but after being so close to him, both physically and emotionally, Kagome could sense even the faintest whiff of his distinctive smell, especially in this form. Her breath escaped her in great clouds of frosty mist as she pelted through the forest of ice covered trunks, the landscape white as far as the eye could see. If she didn't have that scent to follow, she would have gotten lost almost instantly among the falling flakes. They had filled in his footsteps, as they had hers, making it seem as if he had vanished.

But soon she began to see very slight indentions, marking his passage, and sure enough there was a matching set of indentions alongside his own. He was still accompanied by the witch, and Kagome's heart squeezed in her chest, pumping hard and filling her body with adrenaline with each pulse. Why had she taken him? Did she intend to kill him to insure Kagome's failure? Or maybe she wanted to hurt him simply out of spite.

Fear hit her hard and fast, making her push herself to even greater speeds to try and reach Inuyasha before whatever this witch intended could take place.

Her feet left trenches that carved through the snow like a heavily laden sled as her fast churning legs and paws kicked up the powdery white substance in every direction at her speed. It wasn't long before she began to pick up on the oddest sound, a sound she hadn't heard in three weeks, and never in this particular manner. In fact, it took a while for her to realize what it was.

It wasn't until she was bursting through the tree line into a moonlit clearing that she finally realized the source of the noise and why it made her skin crawl with discomfort.

It was the sound of her own voice.

She screeched to a stop, so fast that she almost did a nose plant into the snow drift she had created in front of and around her. The spray of snow should have alerted the two persons in the clearing to her presence, but it seemed as if they were in a trance and couldn't hear her. Or at least, that was what she assumed at first, until the witch in Kikyo's form sent her a smirk out of the corner of her eyes.

She had Inuyasha in a spell of some sort - that much was obvious. He was staring at her with glazed eyes, and the fake Kikyo quickly turned her gaze back to meet his. She was singing to him, almost as if she was one of those sirens of ancient legend that used their voices to entrance men…usually leading them to their deaths. And she was using Kagome's voice…a fact which made her blood boil in her veins.

With a silent snarl she plowed her way out of the drift she had gotten herself stuck in and barreled into the clearing. She could feel that her fur was sticking up straight, and bared her fangs menacingly at the witch. It didn't really matter to her if attacking this bitch would break the contract and maybe kill her or something - at the moment all that mattered was the rather ominous glow that had started up around Inuyasha's feet and was slowly traveling up his body, making his clothing blow in some sort of visible breeze. It looked almost like some sort of magical restraint, or maybe even a soul sucking spell of some kind. Really, it could be anything. It might kill him, or it might turn him into a bunny for all she knew, but her gut instinct told her that whatever it was, it was bad.

The feel of the energy was all wrong, making her fur prickle and her pelt ripple across her flesh in unease. It was wrong; it felt all wrong…although she couldn't quite put her finger – or rather, her paw – on it.

But she knew she had to stop whatever it was from happening, not liking the glazed and rather zombie-like expression on Inuyasha's face.

So, lowering her stance, she tapped into her powers, accessing both the light, glowing powers of the priestess energy within her, and the slightly heavier, earthier powers of her new body. She channeled those energies to her paws, almost instinctually. It wasn't smart to just charge in there without preparing first, she knew that well enough. This witch would be the toughest opponent she had ever faced, and so it was imperative that she do her utmost to use her full power right off the bat.

Gradually she could feel the skin of her pads begin to tingle, and then her claws grew warm, and slowly the warmth and radiant feeling traveled upwards as it began to reach its maximum. A slight glance down would have shown her that what had started out as a dull yellow glow quickly began to brighten to fire-red, and then edged into a purer white light still edged in red. It encompassed all four paws, as if she was walking on light and moved as if in an invisible breeze.

She was unaware however of the appearance of her paws, she was too focused on continuing to route her power there. Once she could feel the energy bounce back, as if it had topped out, she knew she had powered up as much as she could. Lowering her head and pinning her ears back, she looked the witch dead in the eye and snarled – to the best of her ability.

The witch Urasue was now looking at her with wide eyes, keeping her spell on Inuyasha almost absentmindedly as she observed the unexpected power of the weak little human she had transformed. She never would have expected for her to end up with any sort of power, much less even to be able to transform, and so it was obvious that she was taken aback. As a guttural sound, almost a hiss, came from Kagome's chest and not from her throat, Urasue winced, a bit disturbed by the unnatural noise.

Kagome's ears flattened fully, her hair rose to utmost threatening position, and her legs shifted to give her a more solid stance, that odd glow around her paws and lower legs billowing. Her muzzle curled to expose her fangs as much as she could and she parted her jaws to display them in the most threatening manner she knew. That strange hiss/growl bubbled up in her chest, making her throat ache.

The stupid woman was still singing, with her voice, and Kagome was beginning to lose her patience.

Was she terrified? Certainly. Even from here Kagome could feel the waves of evil power imitating from the dark witch, but her wrath helped her to overcome that fear. Rage that she hadn't even known was building within her for the past three weeks released all at once.

Her tongue came out and traced across her bared gums and fangs almost unconsciously, stopping some of the drool that just happened to start dripping from her teeth.

She took one single step forward, and her paw sunk into the snow, the glowing heat radiating from her making the ice melt instantly with a loud hiss. An eruption of steam burst up and around her form in a great cloud. It startled her and she flinched, glancing down to note the glow that she had previously missed. She blinked, a bit surprised, but she didn't have time to worry or wonder about it.

She had a witch to kill.

With a bunching of her powerful shoulders she leaped, launching herself towards the witch in an all-out attack. She lunged, her front and then hind paws hitting the snow once in between her and the enemy and releasing another burst of steam. The moisture thick air cloaked her slightly as she made the final jump. She leaped through the cloud and hit the fake Kikyo at full force. One of the witch's hands rose and a barrier popped into existence, one which she crashed into face first. Her front paws smashed into it with the force of an angry rhinoceros, and an immense blast erupted from her powers coming into direct contact with the magical barrier. The mild explosion sent out a shower of sparks and a blast of heat that sent both women back through the air.

Yet, despite the witch being blasted back a few paces, the spell on Inuyasha didn't seem to break. In fact, in Kagome's voice and with Kikyo's lips, the witch said, "Attack, Inuyasha!"

At the command, the male dog demon jerked and then drew his sword and charged at Kagome's unprotected flank. She saw him coming at the last minute and gasped, throwing herself back to land hard on her back and side in a last ditch effort to try and avoid the sharp blade. She wasn't entirely successful, and the long weapon carved a shallow slice along her flank as she dodged it. It was obvious he was completely possessed. He hadn't held back any power in that swing and had it hit, she would have been dead meat.

As she turned to look at him, she felt a chill run down her spine at his unnatural glowing red eyes, a definite sign that very bad magic was afoot here.

"Don't kill her if you can help it." The old crone disguised as a young priestess called out, and Inuyasha altered his grip slightly on the weapon, flipping it around as if to beat her with the blunt edge instead.

Sure enough, he came at her and bashed her upside the head with the dull side of his sword, sending her head over tail. Fighting Inuyasha had not been a part of the plan and for a moment it sort of sent her for a loop, which gave him the opening to smack her. But as soon as she realized what was going on, she went on the defensive and honed in on his weapon. She didn't want to hurt him, so her best idea was to knock his weapon out of his hands and toss it into the forest.

Normally this would have been an impossible feat, and yet with all the energy pumping through her paws she was able to move faster. Inuyasha being possessed made him slower and not nearly as powerful of a fighter. So, it took less time than she would have imagined to sneak past the wild swings that worked as his half-assed defense at this particular moment. She used one glowing paw to slap the sword right out of his hand with enough force that it was sent flying through the air an impressive distance into the forest, where it disappeared.

One would have thought that would make things better…but it only made things much worse.

Inuyasha transformed, under the command of the witch, and his larger dog body pounced on her. She yelped and they fell into a tangle of limbs on the ground, tumbling around in the snow in a rather dangerous and painful barrel roll as they fought for dominance. Kagome's glowing paws sent up large clouds of steam as they churned through the deep snow on either side of them, both when she was on the bottom and especially when she was on the top of their little wresting match. It got to the point where neither of them could see much beyond each other.

Inuyasha bit and scratched at her, enough to draw blood and cause some rather painful wounds, but not enough to cause any serious damage. That was probably simply due to the order not to kill her, and not because he was snapping out of it as Kagome really wished. His glowing red eyes told her that he was still fully under the witch's spell. In fact, he didn't even bare his teeth at her, showing that he didn't have any aggression propelling him to fight, only magic. That was a good thing, because if she had learned one thing about Inuyasha's fighting style, it was that he was at least ten times more dangerous when he was pissed or protecting something. Right now he was manageable, but she knew good and well that if he was really fighting her she probably wouldn't stand a chance with the little amount of training she had.

Still, with these glowing paws of hers she may very well stand a chance. But at the moment they ended up being a bit of a weakness, because she had to be super careful in this close squabble. She didn't want to actually hurt him, and since the power in her paws was so intensely packed, even the slightest scratch would be a lot worse than she intended. Not being able to use her feet was a major handicap, and only left biting and using the rest of her body as leverage.

He ended up pinning her beneath him, with one paw on her neck and a hind paw on her stomach, while his jaws clamped on her shoulder. She lay still for a moment, panting and wondering how to get out of this one without clawing him to shreds. As the white fog around them began to disperse, she saw a sight that she never thought would bring her happiness. Kikyo was standing at the edge of the clearing and had her bow drawn, pointed right at the witch.

As she turned to look at Kagome, eye-balling the situation with Inuyasha pinning her down, her black eyes grew even colder as they shifted back to the witch.

"What have you done to Inuyasha?"

"Oh, nothing much, just a little enchantment to control him for a short while." The other Kikyo said, still using Kagome's voice.

The real Kikyo's eyes narrowed at her reflection and said in a silky, pissed tone, "I see. Well I'm going to have to insist that you cease and desist."

She didn't give the witch a choice really. At that moment, she shot the arrow pointed at Urasue. It hit her barrier, and Kagome couldn't help but notice it was significantly weaker than before, and wondered if her previous hit had weakened it. The first arrow fell away. However, when a second arrow hit only seconds later, the glowing magical shield began to crack and then finally gave way.

With a shriek, the other Kikyo was thrown back, the arrow piercing her shoulder.

Several things happened simultaneously.

The witch flew back and an explosion seemed to go off with a boom as the arrow broke her shield.

Inuyasha passed out on top of Kagome as apparently the spell on him finally broke – probably because of the witch's lost concentration at being pierced with an arrow.

Kagome realized just how heavy Inuyasha was and huffed as his full weight pressed her deep into the snow, and her glowing feet flailed around in the air.

And then, from the smoke of the explosion, the old crone that Kagome remembered from before emerged, scowling and looking very cross.

"Now look what you've done, you little brat! You broke my enchantment!"

If Kagome could speak, she would have asked, _'which one?'_ because it was obvious that the old crone's disguise had been broken, but so had the one on Inuyasha presumably. But since she couldn't speak – due to her lack of vocal cords and also lack of air from being smothered under Inuyasha – she remained mute as usual, only managing to supply a rather weak snort of derision to add to the conversation.

The crone still spoke with Kagome's voice, and that fact alone irritated her enough that she managed to shove Inuyasha's limp body off her so she could stand up. She took human form and began to scold the witch silently, cussing her out with every gesture she knew and mimed at her throat and mouth and then at the witch.

It was easy enough for Urasue to pick up on the message, and she cackled, which made Kagome flinch at the wrongness of that sound coming from her vocal cords.

"What's wrong Dearie? Angry that I'm borrowing your voice? But it was so much easier to enchant your lover with your voice."

That made Kagome go white with both rage and a flash of distress. The thought that her own voice had been used against not only her, but also against Inuyasha in such a way pained her more than she would like to admit.

Kikyo sent Kagome a questioning glance to confirm what the hag had said, and Kagome nodded, her lips pressed tight and her eyes tense with dismay. The other priestess then looked back at Urasue, her eyes slowly scanning the old crone. As an advanced priestess, she possessed the sight, a gift that allowed her to see spirits, powers, and other such things. So she looked the old crone up and down, searching for the source of this spell involving Kagome's voice.

She settled on the crone's throat, and observed a glow there, one that was evidence of magic at work. And so, she loaded a spiritual arrow with a purifying property aimed specifically towards breaking spells, and pointed it at the old witch's throat. While Urasue was distracted by Kagome, Kikyo let the blue arrow fly and it hit her smack dab in the neck – taking the old woman, Kagome, and now Inuyasha by surprise as he slowly groaned and sat up to see Kikyo shooting her arrow at this unknown lady.

"What the hell is going on here?!" He demanded, his previously fuzzy eyes sharpening instantly and clearing from any lingering fog as he saw the blue arrow land in this old woman's throat.

He looked back to see Kikyo wielding the bow. Then he saw Kagome standing in front of him, almost protectively, and it didn't take him more than a millisecond to see that she was beat up.

"Wait a minute, what the fuck happened to you Kagome? Where are we anyways? And who is that?!"

His questions went unanswered, mainly because Kikyo's arrow had broken the spell on Kagome's voice, and the witch went to her knees, growing pale as that creepy fog from before began to ooze out of her mouth. She clamped her hands over her mouth, but soon the magic fog burst forth against her wishes. It coiled up into the air. With the oddest shriek any of them had ever heard as one voice turned into another, there was a wet squelching sound as something glowing and bloody was ripped out of the woman's mouth and came out into the air, pulsing and shining and making a very low-volume sound as it thrummed within the smoke. The low-volume sound was Kagome's song that she had sung when her vocal cords had been ripped out.

Kagome herself went pale upon seeing her own pulsating flesh suspended in mid-air, and the other two there stared at it for a long moment in obvious confusion. It took them a while before they realized what it was they were looking at, and for once it seemed that Kikyo and Inuyasha caught on right about the same time. Kikyo didn't react as much as Inuyasha naturally, but even her normally calm, collected expression twisted a little in shock and revulsion.

At the same time, Inuyasha's eyes went wide and he gaped, sputtering for a moment before he managed to say, "Wh-what the…Kagome…Is that your…?!"

The question was answered for him as the smoke seemed to make up its mind and started making a beeline for Kagome. Apparently the loose magic had needed to figure out whether to return to its creator, or to the woman who's body it originally belonged to. Whatever the case, suddenly Kagome found herself being pursued by her own larynx and vocal cords and whatever other tissues had been stolen from her.

She automatically retreated a good few steps, sharply remembering how unpleasant this had been the first time, before she forced herself to stillness with a mental slap and pep-talk that consisted of, ' _Stupid! Pull yourself together! It's the epitome of dumbness to be running from your own vocal cords_!'

Under any other circumstance, it might have even been funny - the sight of floating vocal cords and tongue connections chasing after its owner, but at the moment Kagome was anything but amused. In fact she felt very close to crying.

It didn't take long for the smoke to reach her, and as soon as it did it latched on, the magic wrapping around her throat like a noose to hold her in place as the rest came barreling at her face. The smoke forced itself into her nose and into her mouth, opening her lips before she had decided to consent to the proposed activity, and she choked on it as she remembered doing before.

She vaguely heard through the odd disembodied singing and her own pulse pounding in her ears, the sound of Inuyasha yelling and protesting, and could see him through the smoke being restrained by Kikyo. Really, that was probably a good thing. Kagome didn't know what would happen if he interfered.

At that point she was forced to squeeze her eyes closed and tears spilled down her cheeks as she continued to choke on the smoke which turned disturbingly solid as it forced its way down her throat. She was pretty sure it ripped a few things on the way down based on the burning pain that tore through the area. And then there was the rather unpleasant sensation of loose flesh being dragged down and then the oddest reversal of something being taken away. It was as if it almost melted back into place. All those tendons and various little muscles and tissues settled into the gap with some rather unpleasant wet squelching pops, almost like a bone being set back into place.

It hurt, pretty badly in fact, and then suddenly the pain eased as everything settled back to where it was supposed to be. Shortly she could feel that blessed sensation of vibration in her own throat as the singing bits and pieces suddenly became attached. Now in control of the noise, she cut it off sharply, because the singing frankly hurt her sore throat, and also because the sobs that ripped through her chest sort of shut down the sound rather abruptly and firmly.

The familiar feel of her own voice in her own throat sent her into a fit of relieved weeping, the likes of which she had never experienced before, and both hands settled protectively over her neck as she curled into herself. The smoke dissipated thankfully before she suffocated, and she was left to gasp and wheeze and press her forehead to the cold ground in an attempt to steady herself.

At that point, Kikyo released Inuyasha - either because she could see that the process was complete, or because he finally forced her to with a rather sharp elbow to the gut. She took the blow with minimal expression and very little reaction, only deigning to lightly rub the area as she watched him run away from her with a very mildly irritated expression on her face.

He came to a halt, skidding on his knees as he did an abrupt sit a few feet from Kagome. "Kagome! You okay? What the hell just happened?"

She worked on halting the tears that were still working their way down her face, dripping from her nose and freezing it to the ground where it touched the snow. This was no time to be crying damnit!

She slowly managed to lift her head and met his eyes, which were full of concern and a good deal of shock and horror. It made sense why he would feel that way, the whole process she had just suffered through had felt pretty nasty - she could only imagine what it must have looked like.

Taking a few deep steadying breaths she raised herself to her knees and gave him a slightly watery smile.

And then she parted her lips and said his name, for the very first time. "Inu…Inuyasha…"

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! Again, so sorry for the delay. I was out of town all last week, and then to top it off I got sick the past few days! But anywho, I hope you all enjoy the new chapter. We're finally getting to the climax of the story! It's gonna be wild and woolly folks so hang on to your hats. :D

As always, a big thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story. I know it's a hassle, so I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to do it.


	17. Chapter 17

There was a long, poignant moment of silence as his eyes slowly widened and he seemed to stop breathing.

"Did you just…say…my name?"

Her smile became more genuine and less pained, the discomfort from the return of her throat easing in the face of his shock and wonder.

"Y-yeah…" She responded, but then started coughing, her voice super hoarse and her throat pulsing with pain.

"Woah, easy there…you - you just got it back. Take it easy."

She swallowed thickly and nodded, taking some deep breaths.

"You two! Pay attention!"

Inuyasha and Kagome jerked and looked towards the barked command, to see Kikyo facing off with the witch. The sharp comment had come from Kikyo, who sent them a rather irritated look. She had a fair point. The witch was up again and seemed to be gearing up for a new attack.

What none of them expected though, was for her to start cackling.

"Oh! How sweet. So you were finally able to speak to your lover, eh?" She laughed some more and then pointed at the sky. "Too bad it won't do you any good, the sun is rising and your time is up! Don't worry…" She grinned maliciously at Kikyo. "I want to see this. It's the best entertainment I've had in a while."

Sure enough, there was the slightest hint of pink in the gray sky and the bottom of Kagome's stomach dropped out. She was too late after all.

She watched with rising dread as the first light broke through the tree line and illuminated the clearing with soft luminance. As mellow and lovely as it was, it didn't affect her in such a way, and with a grimace, wince, and cry she felt her form shifting.

The first time she was transformed from a human into a demon, back in Urasue hut, it had been the most painful experience of her whole life. Now though - after getting used to shifting from her humanoid state to her dog state - it wasn't nearly as bad, though it still hurt quite a bit. As before, she felt her ears shifting, her nails being ripped out and replaced as were her canine teeth, and the essence of her blood and magic shifting. The physical transformations she could deal with, but the way her blood revolted and clung to the earthy demon magic that had been braided into her own so neatly and tightly by Kaede felt wrong. It felt as wrong as when her voice had been stolen from her. Even though these elements had only been with her for three weeks, they already felt like a part of her.

At the abrupt change in her demeanor, Inuyasha instinctually grabbed her up into his arms in a protective manner, so he had a first row seat to all the changes taking place in her. He could feel her twitching and tensing up against him with pain and small choked noises came from her throat, which made his ears lay back on his head in distress.

He had seen her transform from humanoid to dog many times, so the physical changes didn't bother him too much. But the change in her scent and the change in her essence did disturb him, even though he had half expected it. It was obvious she was indeed shifting into a true human, the same one that he had smelled back in that cave.

So his hunch had been correct. She had been a human and was transformed into a demon. His mind quickly began piecing things together. If she had been human before, and was only now transforming back into one, right when she ran out of time for whatever spell she had bartered with this witch for…then it was pretty obvious what the spell had been for. This witch had turned Kagome into a demon, at the price of her voice, and then sent her off into the woods for three weeks to do who-knows-what. The only question remaining was why Kagome had wanted to be a demon in the first place, and what the bargain had been. What was it that she was supposed to do before three weeks were up?

To be honest though, he was more interested in the first question. What in the world had possessed her to take such a risky proposition just so she could be turned from a human into a demon…it was pretty unthinkable to most humans after all.

The intense, deep need to know finally overwhelmed his better judgment, and the question managed to escape his lips.

Kagome was not having a fun time. The physical changes hurt, and weren't nearly as smooth as her dog transformation had become. It was taking a distinctly uncomfortable length of time, although perhaps that was because her body was protesting the removal of the demon blood so much. It was much worse than receiving the demon blood and powers to begin with.

Still, it seemed to be gradually finishing up, because the discomfort was slowly beginning to ease now. It was through this that she heard Inuyasha's hoarse question.

"What in the…why…why did you do this, Kagome? Why would you go to such lengths just to become a demon?"

Unless Inuyasha was able to defeat Urasue - which Kagome was highly concerned about because she got the distinct feeling that this witch had a whole heap of tricks still left up her sleeve - then she was most likely going to die soon. So this would be her only chance to explain. With this thought in mind, she turned her head away, unable to meet his eyes knowing that he now knew about her deception.

Taking a deep breath and gritting her teeth against the pain still thrumming through her, she tried to talk through it as best she could - her words forced out between her teeth and interrupted often by the pain and heavy exhales.

"I…I grew up behind that wa-all…" She paused to suck in another breath as a particularly bad zing went through her. "A-and, it was…it felt like a lie. Haa… it…there were no ani- ah, animals there, not many a-anyways. E-everyone said the wall was for our pro-huh, protection. I snuck out…to s-see…and, it was so beautiful. The trees, the animals…everything, a-and then I s-saw you. I f-figured you knew I was fa-hah, following you…" She had to pause again to gulp in air. "Bu…but you didn't hurt me. Then you…got, huh - hurt…and I… took ca-are of you… and…I got too attached. It was…stupid, I knew tha-hat…but…I couldn't help it." She paused once again, out of breath and her throat raspy.

Inuyasha patiently waited while she got her breathing back under control, and she continued. "They found out…I got caught by a hunter…a-and, dragged back…my…grandfather…the alpha of our house…" - she added in so he would understand the status of her patriarch - "he…he said I wouldn't ever le-eave the house again…and then…tha-ha, that demon bird came…offered me a way out. S-so, I left…and… took me to …the witch. Sh-she said…could…turn me into a de-haah, demon. C-could live … out here…be… be with…with you." She swallowed thickly, her eyes watering and discomfort making her voice even hoarser.

It was surprisingly hard to tell him about this, but it helped that he was just sitting there patiently, not saying anything and simply letting her tell her story. On the other hand it also meant she didn't know what he thought about her tale so far, especially since she refused to look at him.

"She…showed me…a scene of you dying… fake, but I didn't know that. So…I took her offer. After that…you know…what happened."

The pain was easing more now, and it was easier to speak, but she left it at that. Not wanting to really get into the details. Along with that, the witch seemed to have seen enough, and with a loud squawking cackle, she said, "Alright, you two are boring me now. I believe it's time we go, Kagome."

She flinched, squeezing her eyes shut in fear. Slowly, she felt herself being gently put down, from where she had been in Inuyasha's arms this whole time, and she wondered if he was just going to hand her over. Was he so disgusted with her now that he didn't want anything more to do with her?

"Don't worry…"

She jerked at the words that came from Inuyasha and looked up to see him as he slowly stood, planting himself firmly in front of her.

"She won't lay a hand on you." He growled, and his form rippled.

In seconds he was his much larger, more intimidating dog form, which Kagome only just now realized was huge. She had only ever been around his dog form in her own dog form, and so he hadn't seemed so large in comparison. But down here on the ground, as a small measly human, he was mammoth. She could only imagine that she had looked rather fearsome too when she was in dog form, but knew even then she was smaller than him.

The witch didn't seem too concerned though, and only howled with laughter. "Oh you poor, poor puppy, thinking you can take me on."

She then took them all by surprise, as a massive explosion of black smoke seemed to blast from her form, filling her side of the clearing. They all gasped, and then flinched back with shock as -from the top of the cloud of black smoke - a huge, black, ugly bird rose. Only it wasn't a bird, it was a harpy, with the body and wings of a bird, but the head and chest of the old hag, her saggy breasts exposed for everyone to see. That was a sight that had them all grimacing and curling back, never having wanted to see the witch's bits dangling in the wind like that.

For such a big thing, she moved shockingly fast, and before they had really gotten over their shock at her sudden transformation, she was on top of Inuyasha, picking his huge body up in her equally monstrous claws and tossed him across the clearing like he was light as a flea. He slammed into Kikyo and the both of them crashed into a large trunk, toppling the tree over with the force they hit it.

That impact put them out of commission for a few brief moments, which gave the harpy witch enough time to scoop Kagome up in her claws.

She wasn't overly careful as she grabbed Kagome, and the giant bird talons made some rather deep and painful gouges in her flesh, which caused a shocked cry of pain to fall from her sore throat. The sound got Inuyasha up and running within an instant, but it was already too late. The bird woman had gained too much altitude already for Inuyasha to get to her.

"KAGOME!" He bellowed as she was carried off.

The ride was painful and terrifying, and Kagome spent the time working on trying to get herself together. She had three options. One was to attempt to escape on her own, which didn't seem very feasible at the moment since she was back to being a human. Two, she could simply try to accept her fate and whatever was about to happen. Or, three, hold out hope that Inuyasha would come and save her.

Option number one and two didn't seem very acceptable, since she wasn't okay with dying, and knew she wasn't strong enough to take on Bird-Brain by herself anymore. So that only left number three: wait for Inuyasha and believe in him. Still, that didn't mean she had to make it easy for the witch. In fact, the more she could stall her, the more time Inuyasha had to catch up.

So, gritting her teeth against the pain from those bird claws digging into her, she started struggling, twisting her whole body in impossible ways to try and get the witch to drop her. At this height, yes it would kill her, but she was pretty sure the harpy would swoop down and catch her. She wanted her alive for some reason. Sure enough, Urasue was forced to slow down to adjust her grip on Kagome.

Taking a risk, Kagome paused in her struggles and glanced back, hearing dog howls in the distance. They were loud, louder than any she had ever heard before, and it sounded like both Inuyasha and Kikyo were screaming for the rest of the pack - or at least that was the only thing she could think of to explain the ruckus. Those were accompanied by regular loud crashes and booms, ones which she couldn't imagine the source of.

Looking back, she was quick to see just what was causing such an immense sound. Inuyasha, in his dog form, was leaping from treetop to treetop, so fast that he was able to avoid going down with them as they crashed to the ground at his colossal weight slamming into their topmost branches. He was leaving a path of destruction in his wake, one which Kikyo was following on the ground, dodging the falling trees and leaping over the felled trunks. If they were indeed calling the others, then they would be hard pressed to miss the path taken.

Meanwhile, back in the village, Kaede's ears pricked and she sat bolt upright. Making her hurried way out of the hut where she had been monitoring Shippō, she listened carefully. Very faintly, she could hear two frantic voices calling in a distress signal. Upon making sure she hadn't imagined it, she hurried to the huts of her remaining warriors, Miroku, Sango, and Kilala and roused them.

"Ye must go help the others, something has gone wrong."

They were up in an instant, and ready to go in a matter of minutes. Meanwhile, Kaede packed up the herbs she had already prepared into bags, and met them at the entrance of the village. The two warriors mounted onto Kilala, who was already afloat in her large form, and Kaede transformed. The silvered alpha followed her nose to find her lost pack members in the snow - Kagome's footprints already having disappeared - and Kilala rose higher into the air to try and find them from a bird's eye view. They saw the others before Kaede.

"What in the…holy shit." Miroku muttered.

Sango had no words at all for the sight they now saw. Inuyasha was bounding from tree to tree, in a manner unheard of before, in pursuit of something. They were still too far away to really see what was going on, but they altered course and yelled down to Kaede that they were going to take a shortcut. Kaede altered her own course accordingly and followed them from the ground.

Kagome saw the others far in the distance, or at least she assumed it must be them since she didn't know of anything else as large as Kilala that could fly. Unless of course it was another bird. But whatever the case, she didn't have enough time to try and figure out what was going on. She had to slow down this party.

Lacking claws meant she couldn't scratch nearly as effectively, but she still did her best - which only resulted in her nails breaking against tough scaly bird skin. Biting didn't help too much either. So, grasping at straws, she managed to get one arm free and reached up to grab hold of a fistful of feathers, before yanking with all her might. Only a few popped out, but it did result in an ear-shattering squawk, and the claws around her clenched until she felt a few ominous creaks in her skeleton.

A cry escaped her raw throat, and she temporarily went limp to catch her breath. The forest below and the sky around and above began blurring with tears, but she choked it all back. Pushing the agony to the back of her mind, she resumed her struggles, twisting and contorting until both arms were free, and then she grabbed two handfuls of feathers and pulled, attempting to pull herself right out of the claws wrapped around her middle.

It was slow going, one hand stretching and straining to get a grip higher up, before latching on and pulling her ever so slightly further from the grip around her. She squirmed, making it harder for the crow woman to hold onto her firmly, and managed to get another hand up, until the claws had slipped to her hips and she was half-way out.

"You sneaky little bitch! Stop struggling!" The witch cawed, glaring down at her.

Kagome didn't have the breath to spare.

Her antics forced the witch to halt in midair as she struggled to get a full grip back on Kagome. Releasing her with one taloned foot, she reached to grab her around her torso again, but the less secure grip allowed Kagome to pull herself all the way free, wrapping her legs around one of the bird woman's scaly legs for balance. By now she was panting, heavy breaths heaving her chest and tearing her throat apart, and she couldn't see due to the sweat pouring down her skin. This would have been so much easier in her strong demon body, but as a weak human she was barely able to cling to the slick feathers.

Still, it was her only chance, and so she clawed her way up, little by little, heading for the closest wing. If she could just get to the wing, she hoped she might be able to impede its function and force a landing. The witch apparently saw what was going on and upped her attempts to stop her, which resulted in some very nasty long scratches across her entire body as the enormous, wickedly sharp talons scrambled for purchase on her body. Finally she managed to snag a leg and ripped Kagome off, nearly taking her leg in the process. With a scream she was left to dangle by one ankle, upside down in the air. Her three free limbs flailed terrified in the air, searching desperately for any sort of purchase on something…anything.

"You want to be dropped, Girl? So be it."

That was her only warning before she was plummeting through free air with a nauseating sensation. Her fall was less than graceful, punctuated by plenty of thrashing, which was brought to an abrupt and unceremonious halt when talons once more snatched her out of the air, her whole body snapping forward at the abrupt stop in momentum. The talons dug ever deeper into her flesh at the harsh snatching, and they were once again swooping through the air at a speedy pace.

She had at least stalled enough that Inuyasha was right on their tail now.

The chase lasted for some time, before the witch finally pulled up to the cliff upon which her home rested. Dropping Kagome unceremoniously on the ground in a tangle of bloody limbs, the witch resumed her human form. At that point, she grabbed Kagome's ankle and dragged her through her hut into a surprisingly large back room. From the raw rock walls, she assumed it must have either been a naturally occurring cave, or else had been dug into the cliff face. Of course she didn't really have the wherewithal to give it too much notice or consideration.

Kagome, by this point, was very nearly unconscious, both from the pain and blood-loss. Her vision wavered, and not much made sense, but she had enough brain power left to know she had to get away.

The witch was doing something, bustling about and gathering various rather ominous looking items together. She had deposited Kagome beside some sort of stone trough, one that looked big enough to fit a relatively tall man. In the center of the room was a huge cauldron, which she filled with water and all sorts of ingredients as she whisked around the cavern. There was a narrow pipe leading from the cauldron to the trough, where apparently the potion, whatever it was, would funnel into the bath.

It all looked deadly and not nice at all, and Kagome had no wish to participate in any sort of evil bath-time ritual with this crazy old woman. And so - as the woman wasn't paying particularly close attention to her right now - she levered herself silently and slowly to her elbows, her arms shaking and nearly plopping her right back onto her face. Somehow though, she managed to keep herself up, and gradually began dragging herself, following the trail of blood that marked her passage into the room. The liquid was at the very least beneficial in one way, it made her slip and slide across the ground more easily and silently. On the other hand, it also made it more difficult to get a solid purchase on the ground with her elbows and hands in order to drag herself.

Still, she managed to drag herself a ways, almost making it out the door into the main hut before the witch came to collect her. She cackled upon seeing her pitiful crawl, and snatched a handful of Kagome's long black blood-matted hair. She dragged her using her hair like a rope, much to Kagome's pain and verbal protestation.

The trough was full of liquid now, and Kagome was lifted and tossed into it as easily as if she had weighed less than a sack of flour. Gasping and sputtering, somehow she managed to surface to breath, spitting out the noxious fluid that had made its way in her mouth. It burned, the liquid quite hot and scalding her skin, and the herbs also stung, which all combined to make a horribly unpleasant experience.

"You-You're going to cook me?!" She gasped, horrified.

She was met with yet more cackles. "Of course not! I'm simply going to harvest your soul. Then perhaps I will cook you."

"Oh…god."

For the first time Kagome was hit with the true desperation of her situation, and she scrambled to try and escape, only to discover that her muscles had already given up the fight and were growing lax and unresponsive. She couldn't even scream as she sunk below the surface of the liquid, her body going utterly limp and numb. Slowly, everything went black.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha and Kikyo had reached the base of the cliff, but had met some opposition in the form of a murder of large crow demons. Kikyo was for once in her dog form, and shot blasts of blue light from her claws to fell the crows left and right while Inuyasha did the same with his blades of blood. But there were so many of them.

And Inuyasha was beyond desperate to reach Kagome.

Right on cue… there was a shout, and suddenly Kikyo and Inuyasha had to scramble back as a wind funnel blasted them, sucking up the birds without further ado.

"Miroku!" Inuyasha yelled happy to see his friend atop Kilala as they swooped forwards. He was of course accompanied by Sango, but the real surprise was when their alpha came barreling from the forest in her dog form.

"Kaede? You came too?"

"Of course. Now come, we don't have much time." She barked and swiftly bunched her hindquarters, leaping up the cliff face. She used her long claws to grab and pull and launch herself vertically up the sheer rock wall, which Kikyo and Inuyasha both swiftly imitated. They met Kilala and the other two at the top.

"In that hut?" Sango asked, already leaping off Kilala and unstrapping the Hiraikotsu off her back to carry in a ready position as she started forwards.

"Must be." Inuyasha answered, already there.

His long claws would have shredded the flimsy wooden door, if they hadn't bounced off a flashing barrier of some sort.

"Damnit! Another fucking barrier." He snarled.

"Let us." Miroku said, already pasting sutras on the Hiraikotsu. Once it was fully charged with the purification power, Sango swung it full force into the barrier, which began cracking.

It shattered completely upon a glowing arrow slamming into it, and they all looked to see Kikyo in her human form wielding her bow.

Not wasting time on thanks, Inuyasha plowed through the wooden structure, still in his dog form. He burst in upon a scene right out of a nightmare. Kagome was submerged in a trough of smoking liquid, totally still and looking…

"She isn't dead Inuyasha." Kaede murmured next to him, also in her dog form. The cave beyond the dinky little hut was plenty large enough to house all both dogs, and at a look from Kaede Kikyo also took her more powerful form.

The three dogs prowled into the cavern, heads down, ears slicked back, teeth bared, and Kilala followed suite, her form just as big as theirs. Miroku and Sango also joined them.

"Look what a mess you made of my nest. Naughty dogs, I shall have to teach you all a lesson. Dog meat isn't my favorite, but it should still make a tasty meal." The witch crowed, glaring at them all.

"What did ye expect? Ye stole one of my pack, and I am not one to forgive such a transgression." Kaede snarled, coming to the front of the dogs to glare back just as fiercely at the witch.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha slipped around and dashed to Kagome's side, faster almost than anyone could blink, and he had her limp form gently clamped in his jaws. He backed away with her held firmly, her head lolling on her neck.

"It's too late fool. Her body is but an empty shell." Urasue snarled back, glaring at the white dog.

His eyes shot to Kaede's for confirmation, and she nodded sorrowfully. "She be not dead, but her soul is gone."

"Not gone, just separated. Do you not sense it?" Kikyo corrected, and suddenly long thin white demons were sliding in between them all, like a mass of snakes.

"Find her and bring her to me." She instructed, and the white demons began searching, evading the talons of the witch as she attempted to catch and shred them. She began sending spells flying every which away, and they all found themselves on the defensive in the relatively cramped space. Kikyo and Kaede both put up strong barriers which held against the spells, and the others all darted to take cover behind the glowing walls. Miroku and Sango both took the lead, their smaller bodies able to dodge the spells more easily, and they whacked the flying glowing projectiles out of the air with staff and boomerang as well.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha gently lay Kagome's body down on the floor. His nose drifted over every inch of her, taking in the damage. His ears pricked all the way forwards and he looked close, every sense tuned on her. To his relief, he picked up the faint sound of her heartbeat.

She was indeed still alive. Thank god.

Kaede transformed. "Quick, we must tend to these wounds swiftly, else her body will die. Then there's nothing we can do."

Her first move was to press on Kagome's chest and stomach until liquid flowed from her mouth and nose and breathing stuttered back into place in the soulless body.

After that, she took the bags off her shoulders and began pulling herbs and poultices out. As she started tending to Kagome's wounds, she directed Inuyasha to heal the most serious ones quickly as she bandages the lesser ones. Meanwhile, Kikyo maintained the barrier protecting them - also taking her human form - and waited for her snake like soul stealing demons to find Kagome. Miroku and Sango kept the witch busy so that the demons could find her disembodied soul.

Kagome knew none of this however.

After everything going briefly dark, there was a sharp, agonizing, ripping pain worse than anything she'd ever experienced before. It lasted all of a second and yet eternity; then suddenly it cut off and she had floated up from the liquid. For a brief second, she thought she was escaping somehow, but then looked down to see herself lying beneath the surface of the green tinted water and knew that was not the case. As a floating disembodied soul, she could sense nothing physically, and she certainly didn't feel peaceful - only terrified.

The pure terror revealed itself, and a flash briefly lit her form, blinding her vision, such as it was. The distress had made her spirit manifest into a ghostly form. She was glowing, mist like, and suddenly she had some sort of mobility.

"What the….such a powerful soul…" She heard the witch gasp in amazement, and turned to see her eyes split wide open in shock. And then suddenly a broad grin parted her lips. "I knew you were a catch, Girl. Able to manifest yourself like this…it's unheard of. You will fuel hundreds if not thousands of my golems."

Not if she had anything to say about it. Now that she had some mobility, she didn't hesitate to run away. Unfortunately she didn't get far. The witch muttered some sort of spell and glowing misty chains sprung from her hands, snapping towards Kagome's soul and wrapping her tightly. With every ounce of power, Kagome fought the chains, a soul deep pain unlike anything she had ever experienced slicing into her as the chains began to glow. Now she could feel, but she wished she couldn't, because all she felt was agony.

The pain was without words, it wasn't hot, or cold, or sharp, or dull, or tearing, or cutting, rather it was everything and nothing all at once, burning her, freezing her, cutting her, binding her. And yet she still fought, struggling to escape the tethers and return to her body, or perhaps simply try to escape this room. If she could just get free, maybe she could find the others and…she didn't know. She didn't know what was possible in this form. But she knew she had to try.

But no matter how she struggled, she was dragged unmercifully towards a tiny box and then crammed into it to be shut in darkness and cold and pain. She felt crushed, like she couldn't breathe - not that she needed to. If she could scream she would.

She was there, stuck, her soul crumpled up like a ball of discarded paper and stuffed in that box of agony for what felt like forever, and she wondered if this was it. She had been condemned to hell, which she supposed was only fitting after making a deal with the devil as she had. As she slowly accepted her fate, her soul curled into itself, shrinking into the darkness until there was nothing at all, no pain or cold or dark…just…nothing.

She had almost given up all hope, when suddenly there was a jarring. Stuck in a physical object as she was, she was able to gain a slight sense of falling and impact through the horrible nothingness and small resurgence of pain, and then there was light once more as the box cracked open like an egg dropped from the nest. Desperate to escape through that crack, she began struggling once again, her form once more swelling to fill the space and all that agony came back full-force. It felt like her soul was being shredded and torn apart while simultaneously being crushed. Still, with that slight shard of light she once more had a sliver of hope, and she carried on the struggle.

With her thrashing, the box cracked apart further and then splintered, the wood coming apart at the seams to spill her out onto the floor, where she lay helpless like a puddle of glowing vaguely human shaped ooze. Those chains still bound her spirit, still glowing hot and burning her. Though the pain, as before, was not strictly burning, but was simply agony. Then, just as she wondered how much longer she could bear it, something was lifting her, wrapping her in a long comforting tendril. More joined, and soon she was cradled gently by long skinny white bodies.

Inuyasha and the others started when Kikyo stiffened and said, "There!" rather abruptly. Turning to look, they saw her reaching out to her long white soul stealer demons, who were wrapped around an equally white glowing form.

"Is that…?" Inuyasha gasped, unaware he had even spoken, but Kikyo answered with a nod as her loyal companions brought Kagome's soul over to them.

The witch was so preoccupied by the other three that she didn't even notice Kagome being whisked silently and swiftly over to them, where they quickly secured her behind the shield and blocked any view of her. The wisps laid her down on the ground, and they all huddled around her form, staring in shock and awe. Only Kikyo had seen souls before, being a priestess of the dead – thus the contract with demons specializing in soul capturing – but even she was speechless.

"Do souls typically look like this Kikyo?" Kaede questioned. Even the alpha was stumped.

"No. Normally they take the form of a white glowing orb, or nondescript glowing mist. Only ghosts take the form of a human being they once were, but it is merely a mirage and usually is a perfect image, complete with the clothes they died in. And ghosts take a very long time to manifest."

Kagome's soul looked like none of these things…not exactly. She appeared closer to a ghost, her form being undeniably human, if slightly wispy and unformed in places. But she possessed no clothes, it was only the form of a body, or the impression of a woman's body anyways, complete with flowing hair, or what seemed to be hair. There was no color to her, she was pale as a…well a ghost, sheet white and glowing with an ethereal beautiful light purer than any they had seen before. Yet even though the soul was undeniably human, or should have been human, wispy images of pointed dog's ears seemed to flicker in and out atop her head - when her head was in focus. Her whole body seemed to flicker in and out of focus, but it was only her ears which flickered in and out of existence, as if her time spent as a demon had changed the very composition of her soul.

But what horrified them all, were the glowing chains wrapped around her, binding her ghostly form and appearing to cause her a great deal of pain, given the way she twitched and seemed to be trying to escape them. They had twined so tightly around her, that they had actually begun to press into her soul as if to sever it in places. If she had been in a physical body with physical chains, they would have already eaten inches into her skin.

Inuyasha immediately went to try and rip them off her, but his hands passed right through her and the chains.

"No, Inuyasha, you can't remove them."

"Well why the fuck not?!"

"Because you are in one form, and she is in another. Here, let me." Kikyo injected, pushing him out of the way a bit.

Her hands hovered over the form of Kagome, stroking across the light emanating from her. She seemed to be searching for something, perhaps a weak spot in the chain, or a beginning, or end. After a moment of hunting, she seemed to find whatever it was she was looking for, and gestured at one of her companions. The long slinky demon glided forwards, and at her soft words and gestures, it darted in, almost seeming to disappear inside Kagome for a moment. Kagome's spirit arched, as if in agony, and then the chain was being pulled off her…almost _out_ of her, in a spectacle that both Kaede and Inuyasha had to avert their gaze from. It looked too horrific to watch.

Soon though, it was over, and Kagome's soul was free to drift upright. Her movements were graceful, more flowing and beautiful than anything alive could possibly accomplish.

Inuyasha couldn't stop staring, his eyes wide. She was so achingly lovely. This wasn't her corporeal form…this was her soul, made manifest. This was her, the very heart of her, the pure essence of Kagome.

Kaede was the first to speak. "Child…ye seem conflicted as to who ye are." She chose to address the matter of Kagome's ears, which were still flickering in and out of existence on her head.

Kagome's head turned to Kaede, and if a ghost could look surprised, then that was the expression on her face. She still had her features, though to look on her face meant confusion for anyone gazing upon her. For that matter, to look at her form was confusing, as if the form they were seeing was simply that of the woman they once knew because it was what made sense to their brains. But yet…it wasn't…it was so much more than that.

But there was a distinct feeling of confusion coming from her, as if she was communicating it to them. Then she spoke, and that was even weirder. Her 'voice' was crystalline, musical, disquietingly beautiful, and yet was not audible. None of them perceived sound in their ears, but rather the words were spoken directly into their minds and hearts, as if she had sung them there without any notion of space or flesh in the way. There was a collective inhale of wonder and amazement.

" _What do you mean Kaede?"_

Blinking off her shock, the old alpha said, "Yer ears my dear. They seem to be flicking between human and dog. As if yer soul can't decide if it's demon or human."

Kagome was silent for a moment, and then her 'hand' went to her 'head,' or that was the impression her glowing form gave.

" _Then…if it's my decision as you say, I choose…"_ Was her angelic voice inside them again, and her hand came away from stroking the top of her head, and those ears of hers stayed permanently. She had actively chosen to remain a demon at the very heart of her.

"A dangerous choice, Child. For if ye are to return to yer body, ye might not fit." Kaede warned her.

Kagome's form shrugged. "I'll fit."

"Okay. Great. So hop back in there and animate your body, because seeing it all limp and dead is going to scar me for life." Inuyasha said, ignoring just how shaky and desperate his voice came across.

She turned to him then, and his eyes met hers, or what he imagined must be her eyes. If he had thought that soul to soul eye contact before three weeks ago had been intense, he had been a fool.

In Kagome's perspective, it was equally odd. She could see them, but more than that, she could see inside them, to their very souls, and could read them like an open book. Kaede's was strong, glowing bright in her chest like a beacon of warmth, love, acceptance, and power. Kagome had no doubt how this amazing woman had become an Alpha, she was like a lighthouse. Her spirit could have basked in the warmth and glow of Kaede's soul forever and felt more at home than she ever had behind that wall.

And then she glanced at the others. Kikyo's soul was vibrating, blinding in light but also fluctuating with unease and indecision. At the very heart of her, she was very cautious, suspicious of others, suspicious of her own motives, frightened, shaken by how she had lost control over the past few weeks, unsure of her feelings of Inuyasha and still perhaps angry at Kagome for stealing him, but also burned with regret. However, beyond that was a fount of wisdom and serenity, overflowing with empathy. If she could only break through those insecurities she would be as powerful a priestess as Kaede perhaps, though it would take years for her to do so.

Glancing off to see Sango and Miroku and Kilala for a very quick look, she was happy to see that their souls were perfectly matched. Miroku and Sango were obviously in love, and perfect for each other, even if their soul's wavelengths clashed a little. In that clashing though was a bond, a connection born of two perfect opposites coming together to create the perfect whole. Meanwhile, Kilala and Sango were almost like two halves of the same soul, so in sync and bound so tightly together that they were nearly indistinguishable.

Kagome had purposefully left Inuyasha for last, because she knew she would get lost as soon as she looked into his soul. Sure enough, as soon as her gaze landed on him, she was stuck.

His soul burned bright, hot, fast, impulsive, angry and hurt, scarred from so many past injuries that she was shocked she'd ever managed to get past them and touch his heart. How he had ever fallen in love with her was amazing, given just how hard and thick his barriers were that guarded his inner self. It was no wonder why he had freaked out so much when they first started getting close. She could now completely understand.

But she had undoubtedly made it to the inner castle of his innermost heart, because as she looked at his soul, she saw her own reflected back at her, just as she could feel him inside of her. There was a cord binding them together, bright and shimmering and even invisible to her spirit's eyes, yet she could now distinctly feel it as strong as any rope. Kaede had felt like home to her, but Inuyasha was so much more than that. He was her home, her soul's partner and resting place, where she felt most safe.

A few explosions resounded through the cave and Kagome knew their time grew short. Suddenly the knowledge of how to defeat the witch came to her, like an inspiration as she glanced at the crone in her slight distraction.

Turning back to Inuyasha, she denied his previous request. _"No, not yet Inuyasha. Before I return to my own body, there is something I must do."_

He started sputtering out some sort of denial or protest, but he didn't get very far. She had touched him, and his words died in his throat. Golden eyes grew big behind silver lashes as he stared at her in shock.

Placing her hand over his soul, resting outside his form at first to make sure he didn't run away from fear, she gave him a reassuring nudge of her soul against his. He sucked in his breath and held it, staying still.

Stepping closer, she effortlessly reached into his form, touching directly upon his spirit inside. He was frightened, she could feel that loud and clear, pulsing through her spirit like a foghorn, and so she swiftly canceled it out with a surge of warmth and love, letting her own emotions speak to him and only him this time.

" _I love you Inuyasha, trust me."_ She whispered into his heart and mind, and he instantly unclenched, accepting her blindly into his most private self. Her own heart nearly burst, and she was oblivious to the almost blinding glow that radiated now from her, forcing them all to squint their eyes.

And yet none of them could look away as she stepped fully into Inuyasha, the sight too mesmerizing to close their eyes to. Releasing his breath on a sigh, his eyes drifted shut as a beatific expression graced his face, a picture of pure peace, serenity, and happiness. She was no longer to be seen, but they could still perceive her within him, her glow radiating out from his flesh, making him appear like the sun - like a god of old. His long hair lifted in an unfelt breeze, the same that ruffled his clothes as her unfettered power unchecked by her carbon habitat filled him to the brim and spilled over, creating waves of energy.

Her vitality and power was added to his and burned within him without any pain.

Turning as one, they stepped out of the barrier, Inuyasha guided by Kagome's intuition. They stepped into the cave, out into the frenetic fighting, which stopped as soon as the others saw him.

"Inuyasha? Why are you glowing like that?" Sango and Miroku asked in unison.

He didn't answer, only smiled at them, and they instantly backed off to give him some space.

The witch on the other hand, was beyond furious. She was livid. "YOU! You stole the power of Kagome's soul! That power was mine! She sold it to me!"

Producing the contract, the witch waved it around in the air.

"Yeah, but that's only valid if you're alive." Inuyasha pointed out.

Kagome snorted, amused by him and his logic. It was true though.

"You can't kill me!" She shrieked, transforming into her true self and destroying her own home, sending boulders raining down from above.

What she had underestimated was the power of a monk and two priestesses combined, as all three of them made a glowing barrier that the rocks bounced harmlessly off of.

As she rose into the sky, she was pursued, by a white dog who glowed almost too bright to look upon. He seemed to fly, given invisible wings by Kagome's spirit which she spread out to the sides to lift him towards the sun and their enemy. The witch screamed in terror, a sound so horrific, high pitched, and off key, that it would have shattered any glass instantly.

Inuyasha's paws glowed as he ran through the sky, leaving impressions behind him like footsteps in the air itself. The bird woman had no chance of escape, and shining claws latched onto her wings. Inuyasha's whole body arched gracefully until he was curved over her, bared teeth snarling in her face as he forced her down. Whatever held them aloft ceased to work, and they plummeted to the earth far below, having gone out beyond the cliff.

The others rushed to the edge of the cliff to watch the three plummet, though they could only see two and the glowing essence of the third.

They landed in the trees, and there was a brief second of silence before a thunderous impact could be heard resounding through the earth and sky. A blast of light cleared away the trees from the site of impact, and showed a blackened warm circle of clear earth, at the center of which stood Inuyasha, who was unhurt.

Both demons were once more in their humanoid form. He was standing over her crumpled form; his feet firmly on her outstretched arms to keep them spread and prevent her from trying any spells. His body was facing the cliff, so the lined up spectators saw Kagome step out of him, as naturally as if she had been born to his form. Sango, Miroku, and Kilala gawked, having not seen her enter Inuyasha to begin with.

Meanwhile, down below, the three in the burnt clearing ignored their audience.

Kagome was loath to remove herself from Inuyasha. Having her soul intertwined with his so intimately was the most wonderful thing she had ever experienced in any plane of existence, and it was one she knew she would never again have. Still, the situation required it of her, and so she slowly and reluctantly pulled away from the warmth and overwhelming sense of love and belonging that wrapped around her so securely and impossibly.

Her removal drew a sorrowful sound from deep within Inuyasha, one that was so soft she knew only she was privy to it.

Once apart, she stared down at the witch, who sneered up at her.

" _You cheated."_ Kagome whispered directly to her mind, and the witch went pale in fright. _"You knew I didn't know the meaning of the word 'mate' and yet you demanded I become Inuyasha's to fulfill our bargain, knowing it was a path doomed to failure from the start. I simply thought 'mate' meant 'to court.' And so, really, the contract was fulfilled."_

Kagome lowered herself to go eye to eye with the now petrified witch. Apparently she had never had a spirit talk to her before. And just as she could make her words warm and lovely and soft to the minds and hearts of her friends and loved ones, she could make them equally sharp, cutting, and painful. She could send warm loving emotions, or the emotions of pain and agony that she had suffered through.

" _You, dear witch, are the one who lost this bet."_ She cooed, and then her hand thrust into the witch's chest, grabbed onto her black and twisted soul, and pulled it right out of her body. The carbon habitat screamed, one of pure agony and horror as her soul was ripped from her, the same sort of scream Kagome would have offered if she had been allowed to do so as her soul was ripped from her.

" _Painful…isn't it?"_

Once she had the witch's soul freed, it trembled in her hands, a gooey ball of black terror and rage. It would turn into a vengeful ghost, the kind that stole people's breaths as they slept and sought ever more power on a road of destruction. And so, Kagome gripped it ever tighter, and her own, pure light engulfed the ball of darkness, and she forced herself into it, purifying the gloom of malice and loathing and evil. She cleansed all traces of the witch's former self, purified the demons holding the witch hostage, and then released her.

The shimmering silvery ball of crystal clear light hovered for a moment in front of her, trembling. All she could now feel from the spirit, was wonder, peace, serenity, and calm. She would be able to choose now to go to the other side, or to return to her own broken body, which would probably die anyways. The spirit didn't seem to concern itself with the carbon form sprawled across the ground, it merely circled the two of them, almost as if in a silent thanks, before winking out of existence. At least this existence.

Kagome could feel a shiver of awareness run through her as she felt the witch cross over to another plane of existence just beyond the veil of this one. It called to her too, a land much like this one but running parallel to it. Still, she had other desires. She wished to return to the land of the living in her own body, if it could be salvaged, and live out the rest of her days with Inuyasha. If he would let her, now that she was a human.

* * *

Author's Note:

And here it is! The final epic battle! Woohoo! I hope everyone enjoyed it. :D

Never fear, there are a couple more chapters to wrap everything up and of course get Kagome and Inuyasha together in a proper love scene. I can't end without that. ;)


	18. Chapter 18

Kagome gasped, her soul finally returning to her body and sealed in place by Kikyo. It wasn't an overly pleasant process, but it wasn't exactly painful either, rather it was simply quite odd.

For a moment, she was incredibly disoriented, and then suddenly her senses flooded her being. Sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and taste all bombarded her at once. While she had been able to 'see' as a spirit, it had been very different.

The hardest sensation to deal with was the onslaught of pain.

She had grown stupidly accustomed to the feeling of an utter lack of pain in her spirit form, and so the harsh reawakening forced a groan and whimper from her throat.

"Kagome! You okay?"

"In-Inuyasha…yeah…just…readjusting." She gasped, trying to place a comforting smile on her lips and failing spectacularly.

"Well, you look kinda…not so fantastic." Was Sango's input.

"Yeah. Not surprised. It hurts like a bitch." She finally confessed, groaning and closing her eyes on a wince.

"I'm not surprised. Ye were sliced up like a piece of meat, Kagome."

After that, talk was limited as they hustled her back to the village. Once there, her wounds were assessed by Kaede, who reapplied some bandages and the like to her.

She was fussed over and then eventually placed in the back room to rest and recover. However, it wasn't long before Inuyasha had stolen into the room, and whisked her away to his own den. She gladly went along with it, much preferring his treatment to Kaede's.

And so it came about that Kagome was housed in an extremely well hidden den, which was shockingly located up in the branches of several enormous trees that had grown so closely together they formed a dense canopy. The den itself was hidden by plentiful vines, but once inside you could see that it had been constructed with sturdy pieces of wood that fit snuggly together. There were windows you could look out of – through the covering of vines – and see the forest around and below. The vines over the windows were loose and easily pushed aside, while the vines covering the rest of the large hut were tight and had – in places – even worked their way through the wood to lock it even tighter together.

The vines could have easily weakened and destroyed the structure, but it appeared that Inuyasha had cultivated and woven them in such a way as they grew, that they actually made it much stronger. So the insides of the hut were peppered here and there with all sorts of different woods – natural woods from the trees in which they sat, the wood he had carved himself that made up the planks of the structure, and the wood of the thick vines that curled and coiled around various corners and walls.

In one corner was a pile of furs, where he gently laid her. It was still snowing outside, and so was quite chilly, until he lit a fire in the only stone structure within the house. It was a stone oven of sorts, and possessed a metal pipe that lead out of the roof to deposit the smoke outside of the den.

"Isn't that dangerous? Lighting a fire inside a treehouse?"

He snorted and shot her a rather self-pleased grin. "No. I coated the boards and wood around the fireplace with the fire resistant wax of demon-steel bees."

"Oh." Was all she could think of in response to his ingenuity … and the new knowledge that there was something called a demon-steel bee. Something told her she didn't want to meet said creature. Whatever the case, warmth soon filled the small den and made her relax with a sigh into the furs.

Inuyasha silently joined her on the bed and slowly began removing her bandages, lapping at the open wounds to help them close. Her human body still responded to the healing enzymes in his saliva, though not as quickly as her demon physiology had. So it took longer for him to heal her than before. But he diligently tended to every wound, starting with her arms.

As he worked on her, her mind began to drift.

One glaring fact remained. She was now a human…while he was a demon. Where did that leave them?

Eventually, the question burned too strongly in her throat for her to contain.

"Inuyasha?"

"Hmph?" He grunted, still working on a deep cut across her shoulder, having pulled her sleeping yukata somewhat to the side to reach it.

"What now?" She asked tremulously, her voice soft and shaky.

After three weeks of not talking, it was surprisingly strange to speak to him. Actually, she was only just now realizing that she hadn't spoken to him the entire time they'd known each other. Had it only been three weeks? It felt like such an enormous chunk of time to her.

After a second he pulled back and gave her a questioning look. "What do ya mean?

"Well…I'm a human now. And you're…still a demon. Where do we go from here?"

He stared at her straight in the eyes for a long moment. Then finally he shrugged. "Honestly, you're still you. I don't really care if you're a human… just means I have to be more careful with you is all."

Gulping thickly, Kagome shoved back the happy tears that threatened to fall upon hearing this. Inuyasha didn't care…he truly didn't seem to give a whit that she was actually a human. All this time she had been terrified and anxious for no reason at all. Still…it did pose some interesting dilemmas.

"I'm…I'm so glad, Inuyasha." She whispered, her voice thick with emotion. After clearing it, she continued slightly less hoarsely. "B-but um…do you…how _do_ you see me? I mean, you said I'm still me, but… what does that mean exactly?"

Despite having seen it so clearly in her spirit form, now - in this body - she was anxious about what he felt for her…. What he wanted from her, and their relationship. She knew he loved her, but did that mean he wanted to pursue a relationship? Would he want to make her his mate, even though she was now a human? Was that even possible?

Reading all the insecurities and worries on her face, he groaned. "You're overthinking things again. Look, I…" He flushed and grimaced, obviously uncomfortable with having to say these things out loud. "I love you, alright?!" He very nearly spat.

She flushed too, and gave him a timid smile. "I love you too, Inuyasha. But of course you already know that."

"Yeah. Well you should've known it too." He grumbled.

"I mean, I felt your emotions when I was…" She resorted to gesturing at his chest, still more comfortable with that sort of communication with him. It was difficult to word, 'when my disembodied soul merged with your body.'

He nodded in acknowledgement, showing that he got what she was trying to say.

Continuing from there, she added, "But I still don't know what that means to you. I don't know what sort of relationship you want us to have…or…"

With an exasperated sigh and a few choice cusswords, Inuyasha growled, "Of for the love of…isn't it obvious? I love you. So I wanna be with you. As your mate if you'll let me. Simple as that. Why do ya gotta make everything so fecking complicated?"

There was a somewhat shocked silence after that, and then Kagome burst out laughing. There was something so endearing, so utterly heartwarming and amusing about the way he spat all that out, and she simply couldn't help herself.

Her laughter got a vibrant blush from him and a protest of, "Hey!" as his ears laid back flat on his head.

"No, no. It's nothing like that! I'm not laughing at you or anything, I just…you really have a way with words sometimes. You always know what to say to ease my fears."

If possible his flush only deepened and his ears went sideways in a flustered manner. "Uh…good?"

"Yes. Very good." She agreed and sighed, finally relaxing. Then another thought struck her and she tensed up again a little.

Inuyasha felt it, having just gone back to tending to her wound, and with a slightly exasperated sigh he pulled back again. "What is it this time?"

"Just…you said you wanted to, uh, make me your mate right?"

"Yeah? And?"

"Is that…is that even possible with me as a human?"

That one gave him some pause and he cranked his eyebrows up in consternation. Then he cocked his head to the side and thought about it for a moment. "Dunno. But we'll figure it out somehow or other."

He shrugged it off easily enough, and so she decided not to be worried about it either.

It was growing increasingly difficult to be worried about anything as he continued to heal her aches and pains, moving from that shoulder to the other and leaving her to clutch the yukata over her chest for some modesty as both shoulders were lowered down her arms and the whole article of clothing grew loose on her frame. He worked on that shoulder and down her arm, then circled around behind her to get to her back and neck. For that, she sat up, still gripping her robe in the front.

She was slowly forced to lower the yukata though as he gradually attended to the deep scratches peppering the skin all down her back, until the robe was around her hips in a pool of cloth. Her breasts were covered by one of the furs she snagged off the bed and pulled to her, but she still could feel a blush warming her cheeks as heat built within her.

Despite the events of the day - or perhaps because of them - she felt intensely connected to Inuyasha, and more than that, roused by his touches. After having such an insanely intimate connection with him, soul deep, she longed for anything that could come even close to that. Though it was only skin to skin, his touches still sparked that deep longing within her, driving her to want more and more.

Though it was unsatisfying on some level, on the other hand, there was something to be said for having a physical body and the sensations running through it. She could feel herself responding in the same sort of way as the last time he had tended to her in such a thorough, body-wide manner. It was glorious, warming, thrilling, and yet a bit embarrassing and scary, but not nearly as much as the last time. She was still shy, which was why she covered her breasts, but she luxuriated in the touches.

As she lost herself to the sensations, she sighed and relaxed, not even wincing at the pain caused by his tongue across her wounds. Yes it hurt, but it didn't bother her in the way it once would have. It was a soothing sort of pain, in an odd way, perhaps simply because she knew it was discomfort brought on by the process that was healing her wounds.

She was distracted from her thoughts as Inuyasha lightly stroked his hand over her back and murmured, "I've been meaning to ask…what happened to leave such horrible scars?"

The caning with bamboo had been so long ago, she had almost forgotten she still bore the scars of that incident.

"Oh, right. That…that was a punishment for sneaking out beyond the walls, once I got caught." She murmured back, as one of her hands reached over her shoulder to absentmindedly trace the rough edge of one of the ropy scars.

Inuyasha's fingers lightly traced the crisscrossing lines that marred the flesh of her shoulders and upper back, almost reverently. "I'm…sorry. If it weren't for me you wouldn't have been-"

She was swift to interrupt him and turned her head as far over her shoulder as possible to fix him with a sincere stare. "No. Never think that. If it weren't for you, I would be stuck behind those walls, trapped in a life that felt unreal and stagnant. So never apologize."

There was a long moment as he looked into her eyes, and then he seemed to accept her words. For once he didn't have a smart comeback and simply let it go. He went back to treating her back, and she sighed, relaxing back into his gentle treatment.

Soon he was having her lay back again so he could get to her legs, which he pulled free of the yukata one at a time to tend to, periodically checking on her to see how she was doing. Her eyes were closed, but after a long moment she slowly opened them, only to be shocked by something she never would have imagined. Once she had relaxed her guard, and her eyes softened, she somehow tapped into that other sight, the one that allowed her to see his soul. As she startled, the vision disappeared.

At her jerk he pulled back sharply. "Sorry, did I hurt you?"

"No! No, nothing like that, I just…I saw…I think I saw your soul again." She murmured.

"My soul?"

"When I was a spirit I could see people's souls, but that went away when I returned to my body. I could've sworn I just…"

"You saw my soul?" He asked, his ears lying flat. He seemed a little perturbed about that for some reason.

"Um…I'm sorry? I couldn't really help it."

"No uh…it's okay. I guess…if anyone was gonna see my soul, I'd want it to be you." He mumbled, turning pink.

She relaxed and smiled, her heart full to bursting in her chest.

As he returned to tending to her wounds, she worked on figuring out why she could see his soul again for that brief moment. With some effort, trial and error, she caught another glimpse of it. The process was kind of like unfocusing her eyes, and then refocusing them, but in a different way. At first, she couldn't quite see the glow of his soul, except for out of the corner of her eye when she unfocused her gaze. It was an exciting discovery, one which she decided to practice and hone at a later time.

But not now.

Not while Inuyasha's lips were climbing her thigh.

She sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to manage some sort of composure and not blush like a complete idiot as he pulled aside more of her robe to get to her hip. His eyes were closed, thankfully, so she wasn't too worried about him seeing anything inappropriate – not that it would really be inappropriate in this setting. But still...

She didn't have too long to worry about it as he followed that wound, unbandaging it as he went, up across her abdomen. She flinched as he prodded the delicate and somewhat ticklish skin of her stomach with his tongue and he opened his eyes to look up at her.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Y-yeah…just…"

With a very small grin tugging at just the edges of his lips, he ran his clawed fingers lightly over her belly, which incited a shudder and a giggle to come from her throat. The sound surprised her, and so she flushed a little and slapped a hand over her mouth.

He snickered. "So you are ticklish, huh?"

"Uh yeah, a little bit." She conceded with an embarrassed and shy grin.

"Good to know."

He was a bit more careful as he worked across the cuts carved into her stomach region. Having already finished her legs, he pulled the robe closed over her thighs, which she greatly appreciated. Inuyasha was surprisingly considerate sometimes.

Kagome kept the furs clutched to her chest as he worked up over her ribs, tending to the slashes those vicious talons had inflicted. Since she was no long a demon, these injuries were going to leave her scarred. Somehow though, she didn't mind too much. These scars had been inflicted in a battle for her life with the woman who had given Kagome her new life, and in the end it was a battle she had won. They documented a momentous moment in her life, a rebirth almost, and so she felt they were part of her. She was almost proud to bear them.

Still, she was glad that Inuyasha was healing them for her. Just because she didn't mind the scars, didn't mean that she was oblivious to the pain of the injuries themselves.

Inuyasha didn't share her sentiments.

The fact that she would be scarred tormented him. He had been unable to prevent them from being engraved into her flesh, after he had sworn to himself that he would protect her. Once again, she had almost died, and he hadn't been able to stop it. In the end, yes, they had killed the witch, but not before she had ripped Kagome's soul from her and carved her body up like a solstice turkey.

It was why, now, he spent longer than he had ever imagined working on each and every cut with a dedication that would have shocked him before three weeks ago. It was hard to get her wounds to heal now that she was human. Her recuperative abilities were so poor, he had to wonder how humans ever survived any sort of battle. It took twice, if not three times as long to get a single cut to close, and they still left deep scars. Still, he was somewhat mollified in the knowledge that the scars would at least be much lighter and heal better with his attentions.

Since he was forcing the skin and tissues to heal so quickly, they wouldn't have the time to build up painful scar tissue that would hurt her later on. He could do that for her at least.

Mostly the wounds were shallow, cuts that bled plenty but didn't go beyond the epidermis and the first layer of muscle, but there were a few deeper puncture wounds where the harpy had grabbed and clenched onto her, burrowing her talons into Kagome's body in an obvious attempt to hang onto her. Those concerned him the most, and he worked on them the longest. Kaede had already packed them full of healing poultices, and so he had to scoop the herbs out with his tongue before healing them – which was an unpleasant process, but at least it didn't seem to cause Kagome too much distress.

She must have been exhausted, because she almost seemed in a trance half the time he worked on her, although occasionally she would wince or flinch at a particularly bad wound. But overall, she seemed amazingly peaceful and happy. He could only imagine it must be the relief from having the curse lifted. She no longer had to worry about that witch; they were now free to be together however they wanted. She had her whole life ahead of her now. He could only imagine how stressful and constantly terrifying it had been to have that deadline creeping up on her.

So he didn't bother trying to talk to her, not that he could have anyways. After all, his tongue was rather busy. In fact, he was glad for his demon stamina, because otherwise he would have grown exhausted less than halfway into this intensive and lengthy licking session. Even with his stamina and strength, his tongue was getting a little tired, though he didn't let it bother him. After all, it was a mild discomfort compared to what Kagome had just been through.

Kagome was indeed exhausted, but in a happy, peaceful way.

After what seemed like hours, Inuyasha somehow managed to get the large majority of her cuts to close over, though they were still very tender and now itched a bit from the quickly forming skin. He only had her chest left, which was still covered by furs. In the process of trying to grab her, that old harpy had left claws marks that spanned from her ankles all the way up to her neck. The set of claw marks Inuyasha was now working on upon her upper stomach also had clawed her chest.

Thankfully, through the protection of some god, the witch's talons had not caught her nipples. Though the scratches did cut across her breasts, they had somehow missed the centers, which meant that someday, she may still be able to breastfeed if she ever had children. She needed Kaede to look at them though once they had healed completely. The elder healer would be able to tell her if the scars went too deep, which would affect her mammary glands.

These were some of the random stray thoughts that came at her as Inuyasha bumped up against the furs covering her wounded chest, but the large majority of her mind was occupied thinking about just what he would have to do to heal her there. It was a rather daunting thought, and she found herself blushing and frowning as she considered it.

He treated all the claw marks across her stomach and ribs first, but when he came to the line where all her wounds disappeared under the furs, he pulled back, scowling at the obstacle.

"Oi, Kagome, I can't heal the cuts if you're covering them up." He grunted, grabbing the fur and lightly tugging on it.

"Y-yeah but…"

He glanced up to her flushed face, and then back to her arms holding the furs to her, and seemed to suddenly realize just where those talons had cut. He flushed as well a little, but also seemed highly perturbed, as if he hadn't actually put two and two together until just now.

"She actually clawed your…"

Kagome huffed, slightly amused and also exasperated he was only just now figuring this out. "Well yeah. After all, the hag was clawing at me in midair and trying to keep me from climbing up her body. She wasn't exactly looking to see where she grabbed me."

She could only just imagine Sango if she were in Kagome's position. Her friend probably would instantly begin a lecture on how a woman's chest wasn't any different than a man's in this situation, a wound was a wound. But the fact was…Kagome did feel differently about it as well. After all – as she had already considered – these wounds might actually affect her ability to perform as a mother someday, so they were more offensive and more injuring than her other wounds.

Then of course there was the fact that to properly heal her, there would be no covering up her breasts. That was a bit unnerving. Perhaps she was shy simply because it had been beaten into her from childhood that a polite, proper, sophisticated woman always covered up everything, and to show any part of her body to a man – other than her husband – would mean that she was a slut, hussy, or hoe. But…then again, Inuyasha was as close to a husband as she'd ever get in her new chosen lifestyle. He had already told her that he wanted her to be his mate, and she believed him. He was not the sort of man to say something like that just to get her into bed.

It was all just stupid stuff from her past life that was holding her back, and so as he grabbed tighter to the furs and very gently pulled them away, she let them go. It was time to leave her past behind and not let all those rules and regulations from a cage long sense broken still rule her.

…Which only left her own innate bashfulness to contend with.

It was impossible to prevent herself from raising one arm to cover her breasts, and though Inuyasha rolled his eyes and sighed a bit, he put up with it.

He started back where he had ended, working up one cut and then another, laving the bottom curves of her breasts and healing all the injuries he could reach with her arm in the way. And then he nosed at her wrist and worked up the edge of one as she curved her hand back and out of his way. He worked his tongue all the way up the side of her chest and then worked on the ends of the wounds that peeked above her arm.

Then, all that was left to deal with were the wounds that her arm covered, which would in fact be a relief, because her arm and the furs had made them hurt even more. They were also the ones she was the most worried about.

At his raised eyebrow, Kagome groaned and mumbled, "I know, I know…"

Reluctantly, she moved her arm and he quickly set about tending to the wounds that spanned her chest. Her embarrassment eased somewhat, helped by the fact that he didn't make a big deal about her breasts being exposed for the first time. He just matter-of-factly set about licking the cuts there and didn't spend any time staring or gawking at them.

Unknown to her, Inuyasha was purposefully holding himself back from looking the way he wanted to. Though he could see her body, it was a bit difficult to get the big picture this close and with him busy tending to her wounds. In all honesty though, he was pretty damn sure he wouldn't be able to admire her with bloody gashes marring her skin. It wasn't as if he wanted to look at her breasts and get turned on when they were hurt. And so, it was easy enough to force himself to not look, though he did notice that at the very least her nipples hadn't been hurt. That had been a large concern of his, mainly because he imagined that would have been excruciatingly painful. Not that the rest of her wounds hadn't been.

He spent extra time and attention on closing these wounds, wanting even more to prevent as much damage as possible. This especially sensitive skin didn't deserve the torture that had been forced on it. None of her body deserved it of course, but for some reason this especially bothered him. Maybe because someday, they may provide food for a pup…if he did his job right.

Kagome slowly relaxed under him as he tended to her wounds. Was it sensual? Yes, undoubtedly, but not in a way that made her embarrassed any more.

His tongue was soft and caring, and so gentle that he barely caused her any pain. He seemed especially careful tending to her here, which she appreciated. It wasn't necessarily sexual in any way, except of course her body did respond.

Finally, after an unknown amount of time he sat back, looking her over for any injuries he had somehow missed. She gulped thickly, a bit uncomfortable with him looking at her mostly naked, but somehow it didn't bother her as much as she had thought it would.

With a sigh, he sat back a little on his haunches, one hand finding her waist and lightly stroking it. She blushed a little, seeing his eyes shift from looking for injuries to simply looking. Again, it wasn't as embarrassing as she would have thought, though the flush on her cheeks was still present. Her yukata still clung to her, resting over her thighs and hips, but her upper body was totally nude.

It was a bit odd, but in a way, it was also comfortable, once she relaxed some.

There was no disgust in his eyes as he looked upon her body with its fresh set of red scars, only perhaps a little sadness, but overall he just looked at her with wonder stamped across his face. Though she hadn't really been worried about it, it was still a relief to know that the scars didn't bother him or make her any less beautiful in his eyes.

There was a long moment of them just staring at each other, and then Inuyasha said, "How do they feel?" The hand on her hip lifted and trailed lightly along the edge of one mark that curved up over her stomach to between her breasts. "Do they still hurt?"

The light touch made her shiver and she responded in a sputtered manner, her tummy shivering under the almost ticklish contact. "N-not really." She squeaked, trying not to laugh.

A soft grin lit up Inuyasha's face and he settled his hand in place on her sternum right in the middle. "Sorry, forgot you're so ticklish." There was a pause and then he continued, "Good. I'm glad they're better."

There was another long pause as Inuyasha stared down at her and seemed to be deep in thought, his brows crinkling a little and his ears twitching back and forth.

Inuyasha was indeed deep in thought. In fact, he was struggling heftily between two extremely weighty emotions which both demanded his utmost attention and immediate response. On the one hand, he was nearly crushed under the desire to protect her and handle her with the utmost delicacy – as if she was the most fragile thing known to demon-kind. He wanted to soothe every ache and keep her from any more pain.

The other emotion – which was somewhat contradictory to the first – demanded that he claim her immediately and without delay. He hadn't been lying when he told her that he wanted them to be mates. In fact, he wanted them to become mates this very night. Though the prospect had unnerved and even frightened him before, after the events of the last 24 hours, he knew without a doubt that it was what he wanted more than anything else in the whole world.

He had believed himself to be in love with her before, which he had, but now the feeling sat in his chest like a pot of lava and feathers and bubbles and everything nice and sweet and soft and patient and hot and sharp and insistent all at the same time.

He wanted- no he _needed_ to claim her, to clasp her to him and bind them body and soul in the only way he knew how. Unfortunately, as she had previously pointed out, now she was a human, and he honestly didn't know if mating with her was even possible anymore. A mating ceremony involved some biting and some blood-letting and some things that were inconsequential to a demon but potentially deadly to a human.

And now certainly wasn't the time for that anyways, not with her looking half-dead and only just coming back to life. So, with an almost inaudible sound, he shifted to the side and lay down beside her instead of on top of her like he really desired. Knowing that the furs of his bed would most probably be poking her uncomfortably in her still undoubtedly sensitive wounds, he carefully helped her to pull the yukata back up and slip her arms into the holes.

To his surprise and delight, she didn't attempt to close it or cover herself, but she did sigh in some relief which told him that his hunch had been correct. She seemed most comfortable on her back, and so – though he wanted to curl her up and then curl his own body around hers – he just stretched out on his side and pressed as close as he dared to do. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her or reopen any of her wounds that he only just managed to close.

They fell asleep together, and for the first night in weeks, Kagome slept with a full sense of peace and well-being, with no fears or worries hanging over her head.

* * *

Author's Note:

Awwww, so cute. Finally we have a nice closing scene to that whole debacle. Never fear, we have a couple more chapters to go. We have to wrap up all our loose ends right? ;)

Next chapter is a lemon tree in full bloom, so come prepared. It actually isn't one of my most explicit, but it still goes some interesting places.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: Lemon Warning for this chapter~**

* * *

For the next week or so, Kagome slowly recovered, her wounds healing fully under the dedicated care of Inuyasha. Kaede came by the day after the big incident, and had chewed Inuyasha out for stealing Kagome, but in the end their alpha had left her there in his care with a gruff warning that he better bring her in for a checkup in a week. It was understood that Kagome wouldn't be leaving Inuyasha's den till then - so that she could recover - which was perfectly fine with her.

To be honest, though Inuyasha had managed to soothe the sharp pains of her injuries, they still ached for days after, and it was only through many more healing sessions that they finally healed without pain. All of that aside, she also felt emotionally and physically exhausted from the whole hullabaloo, and spent a great amount of time sleeping it off – time which Inuyasha spent hunting for their meals and doing other nice and surprising things for her.

He even brought her flowers, though the gesture was accompanied by a gruff and uncomfortable statement.

"Girls like these things right? Here." He had grunted, shoving them at her.

Their other friends came by to visit often – Sango in particular spending a good amount of time visiting with Kagome – though Inuyasha wasn't overly fond of them in his den. The first time Sango visited, she was also accompanied by Kohaku, her brother who Kagome still didn't know very well. He was a scout, like Inuyasha, and spent most of his time outside of the pack. But he stopped by to apologize for not being there to help when she had been kidnapped by the witch, explaining that he hadn't been in the village at the time. Kagome of course told him not to be worried about it.

Shippō likewise was particularly difficult to separate from Kagome, and every night Inuyasha had to toss him out rather roughly, usually with a growl and something along the lines of, "This aint your den, run along ya little pest!"

This was usually followed by Kagome scolding him for his rough treatment of her kit.

Grudgingly though, she could see him slowly accepting the young fox, and though he absolutely refused to have the kid around at night, he was mostly okay with his presence during the day. Shippō also seemed fine with Inuyasha. After the first few times, he didn't even appear to be bothered too much when he was tossed out, though he did protest and argued and asked for a few more minutes in a supremely whiny tone. If anything, the kit seemed to grow almost as attached to Inuyasha, and began playing with him, teasing him until the dog-demon's short fuse ran out and he started chasing Shippō around.

It was surprising that none of her friends seemed overly disturbed by the fact that she was actually a human. In fact, most of them seemed to not even notice. ….Though Shippō did express the fact that he missed her 'pretty black ears.'

Kikyo did not visit, which wasn't particularly surprising. However, a few days after the event, one of her long serpentine soul-demons dropped by and left a basket with some fresh picked herbs for pain. It was obviously an attempt at making things right and apologizing…one which Kagome accepted wordlessly.

Every day was spent sleeping, eating, recovering, and visiting with her friends, and then at night Inuyasha would once more treat her wounds.

There was still some shyness for the first few nights, but soon she had grown relatively comfortable about being naked around him. She was still careful to sit and lay in such a way that her most private parts remained hidden by her black curls, and she still blushed a little at the beginning, but overall she had grown accustomed to it.

It was on the fourth night when things changed a little.

Inuyasha had been holding himself back until every one of her wounds was closed completely, which was a feat for someone as impatient as him. By the fourth night, they had been covered with fresh, bright pink skin. Though they still looked a little raw and scabby, they were undeniably healed over. At that point he couldn't quite prevent himself from starting something. Still, he was very careful and began in the gentlest way he knew.

While tending to her wounds, as he had been doing for the past few nights, he veered off course often enough with kisses and extra caresses that by the time he was done Kagome knew something was up.

She could definitely tell that something was different in the way he touched her, his hands regularly joined his mouth in stroking across her skin gently and his mouth pressed kisses on parts that hadn't been hurt. It was thrilling, but at the same time it made her tighten up a little in timidity. Warmth pulsed through her veins, and made her body lax while at the same time her muscles tensed up some under his touches. It was similar to the very first time they had done this, when she had been so conflicted about her responses to his attention.

But this time, she knew what she wanted, knew what he wanted, and wasn't necessarily afraid of it. She was still nervous, as anyone would be in the face of something new and undeniably intimate, but she wasn't afraid.

Mostly though, she was happy and eager to do more, and couldn't wait till he was done tending to her wounds. When she flipped over so he could work on her front, as soon as he was in range she gently worked her fingers through his hair, fully willing to participate in the touching going on and wanting him to know it. He seemed to appreciate it, and a few deep happy rumbles came from his chest as she stroked his hair and gently petted his ears.

As he worked his way up and eventually made his way to her chest, that new tendency to veer off course and touch extra really showed, and Kagome found herself even more grateful that the harpy hadn't injured her nipples. She was sure they wouldn't have felt nearly as nice if they had. Frankly though, she was surprised by how nice they did feel under his attentions, and it greatly increased the coil of heat tightening in her lower belly.

He took more time there, but eventually he did make his way up to her throat and pressed a sweet kiss against her now healed voice box.

Just a little out of breath, she managed to smile down at the top of his head and gently kissed him there, seeing the glow of his soul brighten. During this last week, she had been working on that soul sight thing, and at least with Inuyasha she could now see his soul almost whenever she wanted. It was still difficult to do on anyone else, but she was beginning to see glimpses of their souls as well.

In situations such as these, she found it amazingly easy to see his, perhaps because he seemed to get brighter and warmer when they were together like this.

But then her eyes were drifting shut as he kissed her.

The kiss was long and sweet, full of heat and love and everything spoken and unspoken between them. It had been a long time since they had been together like this, and both found themselves drowning in it.

As they kissed, her hands traveled from his hair and down his neck, feeling that now it was her turn to touch. His fire rate robe and kosode proved a barrier that was swift to be removed, with both of their somewhat clumsy hands working on it. They both laughed slightly breathlessly as his arm was stuck at one point in the sleeves of both his shirt and his coat.

Chuckles still rumbled between their lips and resonated in opened mouths as they resumed the kiss. Now her hands could touch him unfettered, and she took full opportunity to admire him in a tactile way, feeling the graceful arches and dips and hard spots and soft spots. His skin was mostly smooth, possessing only a few scars of truly horrific wounds and they weren't all that rough or bumpy.

She had seen his upper body before, and knew how he was all lean sinew and muscle built from years of fighting and hunting. The landscape his body provided was more than enthralling, and she found herself slightly distracted from the kiss as her hands explored. Sensing her distraction, he switched to her throat, where he pressed more kisses made hot with his breath and wet with his tongue.

Everything was soft and slow and gentle. Despite the heat and intensity they both felt, they took their time, expressed their love for each other wordlessly with caresses and kisses.

Eventually the ticklish and slightly abrasive nature of Inuyasha's red hakama - which were also made out of the fur of the fire rat - became ever so slightly aggravating to Kagome's still sensitive skin. Normally she would have likely found it stimulating, but with her wounds still freshly healed and sensitive, it began to make them itch and burn. They were tied at the front and she began working at the knot with one hand – which wasn't too successful, so she dedicated both to the task. He quickly picked up on her intentions and raised his body a little to give her more room to work.

As soon as the ties came undone they started slipping down off his hips, being baggy and rather heavy. Of course they ran into problems when the drawstring ties at his ankles kept them on his feet, and he used the claws on his toes to cut the ties so he could kick them off. Soon the last article of clothing between them was removed, as slightly uncoordinated and awkward as the process had been, and they were left skin to skin.

Kagome tried not to jump too much when she first felt him pressed to her thigh, but wasn't entirely successful. He pulled back immediately, noting the slight flinch.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?"

Smiling softly up at him, touched by just how gentle and careful he was being, she responded, "No," and then flushed just a little. "Um…I was just a little… I guess, surprised by the first touch of your…um…"

Despite being more comfortable with him and with this, she still found herself a little too bashful to talk about it without blushing and stammering a little. It got a grin from Inuyasha.

"Oh, this?" He asked, while lowering himself again so that his hardened length nestled in the crease of her thigh and groin.

She blushed a little more and tried to give him a fake glare for his teasing. She failed. "Well, yes, that's…yeah."

He just snickered and his hand cradled her face, the thumb stroking her cheek. "You're really cute like this."

She pouted her lips a little and squinted her eyes at him, but then the expression melted and a smile took its place.

The kisses that followed were sweet and playful, tinged with the heat from before, and slowly grew more humid and involved as they progressed. It wasn't long before they were moving against each other. Inuyasha seemed extra careful though in his movements, being gentle and mindful of her weaker form after accidentally grinding too hard into her hip and getting a wince in return.

It wasn't long before both of them were interested in more.

For Inuyasha, he was having a hard time controlling his demonic instincts to claim her. Despite her becoming human, his blood seemed to somehow still recognize her as his mate, and so every inch of him demanded that he take her, which was making 'slow, easy, and gentle' very difficult for him. There were so many things he wanted, but hesitated doing because of those demanding urges.

Even just touching her, that most sacred and intimate spot, with his fingers or mouth was a rather daunting prospect under the circumstances. Maybe it had to do with his inexperience, but even with another demon, he would have had to watch his claws in situations such as this. He had heard of demons going so far as to bite the sharp tips of their claws off to have the pleasure of using their fingers inside a female, or a female even biting off her own claws for that purpose, but there would still be some sharp edges. As it was - with his claws still completely intact - there was no way he could risk that, even externally. She wouldn't heal like a demon would. Any nick down there could prove dangerous and certainly exceptionally painful, and for a long time since she wouldn't heal instantly.

He knew logically that he was sure he could probably figure out how to touch her without hurting her, but with those urges and instincts beating at him so strongly, he was worried it would make him careless.

All this was sort of a moot point though. Even if he was able to touch her there, he wasn't sure he would have the patience for it this first coupling. He had grown used to following his instincts, and his instincts were demanding some other things from him at this particular moment, which didn't leave too much time for all the other things he wanted to do. She was already wet, he could smell that, and the pheromones she was giving off told him she was as ready as he was.

For Kagome, everything was new and exciting, and just kissing while rubbing against each other skin to skin was plenty to arouse her to the point of going for it. Her body had responded much quicker than anything she had accomplished on her own in the privacy of her own bedroom, but she wasn't about to stop and wonder at it. To be honest, ever since she started figuring out his intentions, her excitement had swiftly begun to build.

So, when the kiss became bumpy and disjointed thanks to Inuyasha repositioning himself down below, she was eager to take the next step. Was she nervous? A bit to be sure, but in the end it all boiled down to the fact that she had wanted this for weeks now. Mostly it was the pain that she was worried about. Breaking her maiden head would undoubtedly cause some discomfort, at the very least, if not outright pain.

It was impossible not to tense up a little at that thought, and at the magnitude of what was about to happen, but at the same time she also invited him in, wrapping her legs around his hips in preparation. The first push was slow, hesitant, testing, but she could feel the tension building in his powerful body and knew it was taking every ounce of willpower for him to go so slow. The fact he was doing so for her sake only made her happier to be with him in this particular moment. After all the care and consideration he had shown her, it wasn't surprising that Inuyasha was taking the time to try and gently make love to her…despite the fact that she had half-expected him to go for it with the zeal and vigor he showed when fighting.

….Something to look forward to perhaps.

But now, she was glad he took his time, because as he pressed forwards she could feel a distinct unpleasant stretch going on as her body was forced to accommodate. There came the inevitable point where flesh had reached a breaking point and could stretch no more, and for a moment Inuyasha's forward progress was stymied. He obviously didn't want to hurt her and – judging by his gritted teeth and tight jaw – Kagome could tell he was determined in this goal. But no matter how gentle he was, she knew that there would be some pain. At this point, she almost preferred to get the thrust over with instead of having to endure this long drawn-out discomfort.

A quick thrust though may not be good for him though. She didn't know how tight a control he had over himself and a hard thrust may make things more difficult for him. He might not be able to stay gentle if she pushed him too hard, and gentle was definitely wanted for this first coupling.

So – instead of urging him to break her maidenhead quickly – she simply readjusted herself, shifting her hips ever so slightly to see if there was some sort of weakness at a different angle that could ease the progress. The shifting did meet with his gentle downwards pressure. He was forced to increase the force behind the slow thrust little by little, and finally something gave.

Kagome sucked in a sharp breath as she felt it - a pinching sort of rip. The sensation was a bit unsettling, and certainly painful - made more so by the stretching that followed. It was perhaps more painful than she had expected, but it wasn't unbearable. Once past the barrier, there were one or two more pinches as he fully sunk in.

She didn't want to stop, mainly because she wanted the intimacy of the union, but she didn't expect to gain very much pleasure from the experience either. That was proven at least partially false, when she discovered the immense amount of pleasure, mentally at least, in watching Inuyasha's pleasure, strained though it may be.

Once his white fuzz met her black curls he released a long breath, as if he had been holding it the whole time, and then hung his head a little and panted as he held still. It seemed she hadn't been the only nervous one, and despite the discomfort she smiled, touched by this show of vulnerability. She reached up and touched his head, gently stroking his hair and ears.

He shivered and groaned, then raised his glowing yellow eyes to meet her gaze. "You okay? Did I hurt you too bad?"

"I'm fine. It's just a little…sore." She winced a bit as he shifted, giving away just how sore she really was.

His eyes darkened a little and she could already see him gearing up for a hissy fit, one which would probably stop the proceedings here and now, and she was quick to forestall him. "Yes it hurts, but it's not bad enough that I want to stop."

She decided honesty was her best bet here.

He swallowed thickly and then eventually nodded. But he still gave her one last chance to back out. "Kagome, if I don't stop now I won't be able to stop until I finish."

She knew why that was. If Kaede was correct, and knotting was really a thing, then he would physically be prevented from removing himself from her. The thought gave her some pause, since she had temporarily forgotten about that little detail. Knotting may increase her pain, so she had to consider it carefully, but quickly at the same time. He couldn't be expected to wait for much longer.

In the end, her desire to consummate their relationship won the day. "I want this, Inuyasha."

At that he finally began to move. The sensation was unlike anything Kagome had ever experienced before. It was like a painful, deep stretch, the kind that one did on extremely sore muscles. And it was inside of her, in such an odd manner and place, in a place she had never even felt before or known existed on her body. Well, she had known it existed, but it had never experienced any sensation at all, aside from clenching those muscles. Now, it was bombarded with much too much sensation. It was impossible for her to not feel every little inch of him as he carefully drew back and then pressed back in. The way it felt right now, she couldn't really imagine why any woman would want to do this…unless they were completely in love with the person they were doing it with – as she was.

Painful and uncomfortable as it was, it was still undeniably intimate. The thought of him literally inside of her and the sensation of that reality was so intense that she found herself short of breath under the weight in her chest. In this moment, there was so much emotion, so much to hear and feel and taste, so many new sensations… it was hard to take it all in, though she did her best to absorb every ounce of information she could and commit it to memory. She wanted to take in every detail and engrave it in her mind so she could remember this moment for the rest of her life.

It was disjointed and bumpy and sticky and painful and sweaty and hot and uncomfortable and yet perfect in every way. What made it perfect was Inuyasha. The sight of his face, the expressions he made as he fought his own pleasure to keep himself going slow, his ears pinned hard to his head one moment and then trained fully on her the next, the way his golden eyes switched from being tightly scrunched closed to wide open and staring at her, flicking back and forth between her body and her face spastically…everything about him was beautiful.

Soon enough she felt something shifting, and a swell took place within her, one which she had to assume was this knotting thing demon males did with their mates. It was the final proof that Inuyasha chose her as his mate, and that his demon body had accepted her human one. In that way, it was wondrous, and she welcomed it.

However, in another way, she wasn't overly pleased, because it did increase her discomfort significantly and made the process a lot less bearable. It restricted his motion significantly, to very short and now rather hard thrusts as he began to lose his tight control. She could feel that somewhat largish ball moving inside her along with those thrusts. The fact that it was near her torn entrance made it extremely uncomfortable, if not downright painful. So for that reason, she hoped that it signaled he was close to finishing.

The already rather painful stretching of those tight muscles down there was increased now, and she wasn't sure how much more of this she could handle without showing pain. Through the whole thing she had been focusing on enjoying the sights and sounds he made, and on not thinking about the sensations too much – absorbing them and loving them for what they meant, but trying to distance herself from the discomfort of them. It was a separation of mind and body that didn't exactly work perfectly but had – up until this point – allowed her to prevent herself from making any pained noises or expressions. However, it was all getting to be too much now, and if he didn't stop soon she was worried that she may end up crying a little, which she knew would make him feel absolutely terrible. So she wanted to avoid it if at all possible.

Thankfully, it did signal that he was close, and a few minutes later he grew utterly rigid. A sharp growl started and then was cut off as he sucked in and swallowed his air, holding it in his chest as he clenched his eyes shut. He jerked, and his hips flexed a few more swift times completely out of his control.

She loved everything about his release, from the flush that bloomed across his face to the way his ears twitched, and even welcomed the sensation of him twitching inside of her, though that was somewhat shocking and a bit uncomfortable given how sore she was. But she loved the evidence of his pleasure, and could feel a fresh flood of wetness pool at her groin, soothing her insides a little. The fresh moisture also helped him to ease his way out without causing her too much pain, though they had to wait for a few minutes before the lump locking them together went away.

As they waited, he collapsed on top of her, though he was careful to keep some of his weight on his elbows. He gathered her to him, cradling her head in his palms and pressing kisses and murmured thanks, apologies, and words of love and affection into her face, lips, neck, and any skin on her shoulders he could reach from this position. The words were soft, almost inaudible, but she stained her weak human ears to catch each and every one she could.

Finally, he was able to slip free and she breathed a small sigh of relief, and also one of slight regret. While her body was definitely glad it was over, she was still sort of sad to see the end of their first love-making.

Still, her body was not to be denied, and so she relaxed back into the furs and luxuriated in the relief. Aside from being sore, there was still something very satisfying about what they had done, something that left her warm and relaxed, her muscles pliant and limp, and she was filled with happiness. The knowledge that they had finally mated was enough to make her nearly giddy.

Inuyasha left her there temporarily to wash himself off, before returning to the bed. She expected to snuggle up to him, and frankly felt like taking a nap. So she was taken aback when instead of stretching out beside her, he hunkered down near her hip region and situated himself between her thighs. Her legs were limp, so he simply moved one out of his way to get between them, which she allowed. She could have fought him on it, but saw no need to. There was no reason for her to be shy, though she did blush as he looked down at the place he had just been seated in.

He winced as he took in the damage, and she could only imagine that there was some blood there. There had probably been some blood on him too, which explained why he had cleaned himself off. That thought didn't really preoccupy her too much though, because she was also getting her first good look at him fully nude. Sitting on his heels as he was, she had a fine view of his tensed muscular thighs and hips. All those muscles in his upper body that she had already admired plenty of times led down to the apex of his thighs, where she stared for a few minutes unabashed.

She supposed she should probably be embarrassed for looking at him in such a way, but there was none in her as she took in his still semi-hard erection, which swayed between his thighs as he shifted. It pointed at the apex of her thighs as if to say, " _Yep, I was just there_!" or perhaps it was simply saluting her sex. The idea was so funny that she couldn't hide a slight snort of amusement.

He frowned. "What?"

She winced, looking up to see his slightly frowny face. He looked ever so slightly worried. The reason for his discomfort was made clear when he said, "I know I probably look a little different than a human male. I've heard they don't have this part…" He demonstrated which part he meant by circling his fingers around the barely noticeable lump almost at the base of the shaft – maybe an inch up. The sight of him touching himself surprisingly gave her a slight thrill, one which she decided should be revisited at a later date.

She had only seen a few diagrams of male human anatomy in those forbidden books she had read in her grandfather's library, so quite frankly she didn't really know what a human male was supposed to look like exactly.

"Oh, no I wasn't laughing at you." She corrected quickly. "I just had a funny thought is all…It looks like you're saluting me." Her hand motioned to the body part in question, getting raised eyebrows and a slightly shocked and amused expression in response. "As for your…whatever you call that swollen nob, it doesn't make me dislike your sex at all."

She cocked her head and continued while staring even more intently, "Although it is fascinating. So it's part of being a dog demon then?"

He nodded, looking surprised that she was so open about it all, with such little shyness. "Uh…yeah…"

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

His yellow eyes blinked sharply as if just realizing how he was staring. "Oh. Guess I was just shocked how…comfortable you are. Aren't human women supposed to be all demure and shit? And you're a virgin on top of that…"

"Was a virgin, I believe you've changed that situation quite thoroughly." She teased. "And as for being shy, I suppose I would have been before all of this. Then again, I'm not your normal human girl am I? Did you forget how we met?"

An eyebrow cocked and he flashed some fang in a smirk. "True that. I guess I found myself one of a kind for my mate huh?"

"That you have."

After a moment, his attention shifted back to her thighs and what lay between them. "I can't wait to see how you react to this then…"

"To wha- Oh!" Her question cut off on a shocked exclamation as he crouched, his mouth lowering to her private bits.

She sat up partially in her surprise and watched wide eyed as he opened his mouth and touched her with his tongue. It seemed incredibly strange, and for a moment she wondered what he was doing, until his tongue circled her torn entrance.

He was healing her.

Still…that _was_ embarrassing. She hadn't expected it, and it seemed somewhat unsanitary at first light. Of course he had licked her practically everywhere else to heal wounds that had dirt ground into them, so this wasn't exactly less clean…only it was _that_ part of her. She knew the taste of blood didn't bother him, but surely she didn't taste very good down there, given it was the place she used to go to the bathroom, not to mention what they had just done.

One thigh lifted in mild protest, which didn't really dislodge him at all, but he tilted his head up a little so he could look at her with gleaming golden eyes that spoke of mischief. He had to know this would be uncomfortable for her.

She frowned scoldingly at him, picking up on the taunt in his gaze. "Alright, so that _is_ embarrassing - you have me there." She could feel his grin against her, which made her squirm a little. "Uh…thank you for healing me, but…you really don't have to. That can't…that can't taste good."

He gave her one more long, slightly probing lick and then removed his mouth so he could speak, licking somewhat glossy lips. "The only thing I'm not a huge fan of is the taste of my own semen. But it's not exactly bad."

She grimaced. "But…that's…"

"What. Gross?"

"Uh huh..."

"Why?"

It was hard to explain if he didn't already understand. "Oh come on, you have to know what I mean. That's my…private parts! You can't possibly want to put your mouth there. It's gross! It has to smell and taste…not pleasant."

He just snickered and shrugged. "Then why am I doing it? If I don't want to put my mouth here as you say?"

"W-well…because you're strange." Was all she could come up with.

He laughed outright to that. "Or maybe you're the one who needs to think differently."

Frowning, she pouted at him. "You're insane. Mad I tell you. I certainly don't need to adjust my way of thinking…since _I'm_ the sane one." Mostly she was just teasing him, but not entirely.

A mischievous and slightly evil grin spread his lips wide and he rested his chin on her pubic mound, his eyes staring up at her challengingly.

"Really? It'll be fun to see how long it takes you to change your mind on that one.

He proceeded to lever both legs wide with his shoulders, and prove her wrong with his mouth.

At first she fought him, squeezing her thighs shut – or attempting to at any rate – and protested. "You can't possibly be serious! Besides, what exactly is the purpose of doing that now that you've healed me?!"

She could clearly see his arched eyebrow, and felt his smirk, but he didn't respond for a moment. "What do you think?"

Still squirming, her thighs wiggling in his unwavering grip, she frowned and said, "I honestly haven't a clue. Other than my previous assessment – that you're crazy."

He just grinned and dipped back down, not going straight for the place that she expected, but instead nipping along her inner thigh. That felt surprisingly good, and she sucked in a breath in surprise. He repeated the action on her other thigh, and one hand made its way to her curly hair above her sex. Gentle fingers teased her there, not really touching her but certainly rekindling her previously quenched desires. He was very careful with his sharp claws, and kept them far from overly delicate skin, and she was mindful of them as well and made sure not to wiggle the way she really wanted to.

By the time his mouth made its way back to her, she wasn't entirely opposed to the idea and her imagination had conjured a few outlandish thoughts as to just what he might be up to. They proved shockingly correct, as he proceeded to explore her with tongue and lips. He was as inexperienced as she was, and at first didn't know the spot that was most sensitive, but when he ran across it she made sure that he knew. It took some trial and error, but in the end he was persistent enough to have her coming apart under his tongue.

Afterwards she didn't hesitate to admit she'd been wrong, though she still gave him a sharp bite to his shoulder for being so smug about it.

* * *

Author's Note:

So I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. ;) There may be one more love scene to look forward to as well.

Also, we're coming up on the end, maybe only one or two more chapters! It's been a wonderful run. As always though it's a bit sad to be close to the end of it.

And as always, a huge shout-out to everyone who reviewed! You are all awesome and amazing! Thank you so much!


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note:**

Lemon warning! There will be explicit content in this chapter!

* * *

The next day, Inuyasha insisted they go see Kaede – both for a checkup and also because he wanted to ask about the dangers of making her his mate officially.

As for Kagome, she didn't know much about the mating ceremony itself, but based on what he'd said, she gathered that it might be too much for her human body to survive. As frightening as that was, she was determined to go through with it if it was at all possible.

The checkup went smoothly. Kaede pronounced her healthy and fully recovered thanks to Inuyasha's healings. It was a huge relief, especially when she was told that the scars across her breasts shouldn't be deep enough to affect her ability to breastfeed if she ever had pups.

At that point, Inuyasha finally brought up the other question they had. As usual, he got right to the point. "Speaking of pups…Is it possible for me to mate Kagome, now that she's human?"

Kaede turned to give him a somewhat surprised look. "Ye mean perform a mating ceremony?"

"That's what I said isn't it?"

The elder rolled her eye at the rude comeback, but didn't comment on it. "As it happens, I have been trying to figure out how to turn Kagome back into one of us…if ye would wish that?" She turned to look at Kagome questioningly.

A spark of excitement and hope speared her chest. "Yes! If it's at all possible!"

"I believe it may be, but it will be a dangerous undertaking. And as to your question, Inuyasha, I believe that it is possible for ye to mate with Kagome. In fact, it could be the catalyst to turning her back into a dog demon."

"How's that?"

"When she was in spirit form, Kagome chose to remain a demon at heart. By doing this, she accepted the spiritual properties back into her that had been woven in by Urasue's spell. Now, it's only her corporal form which is human…she possesses a soul like ye or I. Because of this, I believe that the mating ceremony will trigger her body to transform, since ye will be giving her some of yer demonic power and essence with the transfusion. However, if I am wrong, it may end …badly."

"You mean my body might reject the demonic essence?"

She nodded. "It would be a violent rejection as well. I have no way of knowing just what might be the result of such a reaction."

"If that happened, would she die?" Inuyasha asked, leaning forwards and staring intently at her.

Kaede pursed her lips. "Normally…yes. However, I believe I could pull out the demonic essence before her body tore itself apart."

Kagome thought about it for a long moment. She had already taken one huge gamble to be with Inuyasha…perhaps doing it again would just be pushing her luck. However, there was one more question she had yet to ask. "And if I chose to stay human? What then?"

"Well…ye would never be able to fully mate with Inuyasha. He would be unrecognized as being mated, which means other females may pursue him…and may seek to harm ye. Also, as a human, ye would be vulnerable, though the pack would protect ye of course. However…we do have much longer lifespans that yers. That would be the biggest hurdle ye would have to overcome."

It didn't take long for Kagome's mind to conjure up images of being old and wrinkled and dying, with Inuyasha still in his prime. There were so many bad things about that, she ceased to consider it.

"Alright, I'd like to try this mating ceremony thing."

Inuyasha tensed and fixed her with a burning, concerned gaze. "Are you sure?"

She met his eyes and returned the look with one of determination. "Inuyasha. I do not want to go out like that. I don't want to be the one to grow old and die, while you're left watching me do so. It's cruel…to both of us. I already made a deal with a witch, let her tear out my vocal cords, and signed my soul away in blood to be with you. This poses much less risk than that."

He had absolutely nothing to say to that.

"Very well, if that is yer decision. Ye probably want to get it over with quickly, yes?"

Kagome couldn't help but smile at the kind old alpha. "You know me well, Kaede."

"I shared my den with ye for three weeks dear. If I didn't grasp something of yer character after that, then I wouldn't make a very good alpha now would I?"

So saying, preparations were instantly underway. It took but a few moments for Kaede to put together a bag with all the necessary supplies and then they adjourned to Inuyasha's den for the mating ceremony. It was all happening so fast that Kagome couldn't quite wrap her mind around what was about to take place and was left in a state of shock.

By the time they had situated themselves in the treehouse den, though, she was beginning to catch up, and nerves started making her stomach roll like a sea in a storm.

Kaede told them to sit on some pillows on the floor for the ceremony.

"I will be presiding, so just do as I tell ye." She instructed, and for once Inuyasha didn't complain about being told what to do and simply sat.

First, she set up a brazier a little ways away from them before filling a top compartment with herbs and incense and then lighting the little burner at the bottom. Soon a spicy, slightly musky smell began to fill the room. It was herbal, sweet, a little floral, and over all Kagome found it quite pleasant.

"What's that for?" Kagome asked, curious about the lovely smell.

"It's ceremonial incense. It will purify the space as well as relax ye both and set the mood right."

That seemed logical, and she appreciated the effect. It was very soothing and did give everything a slightly more ceremonial and romantic atmosphere.

"Now, if ye will hold hands please, sit facing each other first."

They did as she asked and shifted so they were sitting on their knees facing each other before reaching out to take each other's hands. Kaede then draped a rope around their clasped hands and wrapped it around several times before tying it securely. She said a few words, ritualistic in nature which Kagome didn't understand, and then out of nowhere she drew a small knife and tucked it under their hands. Kagome expected her to use it to cut the rope off them, so she was shocked when instead she quickly ran it across her wrist, so fast that it didn't hurt too badly, though there was a sharp sting that made her jerk and gasp. She did the same to Inuyasha, and then placed a bowl beneath their hands to gather the blood.

"Why...the blood?" Kagome asked, still shocked.

"To us blood is sacred, and holds power. In certain ceremonies it can be imbued with a person's essence or life force. In this particular instance, it will be used to bind you two together."

"I … see." She murmured, not sure she fully understood, but going with it just the same. There wasn't much else she could do.

As they bled, Kaede murmured more quiet words and then sprinkled herbs over their hands, which also fell into the bowl. Another scent began to fill the den, coming from the blood as it seemed to have some sort of reaction to the herbs. Kagome watched, amazed, as the red liquid slowly began spinning clockwise, smoothly without any bubbles.

"Ah…this is excellent. Yer blood bonded well…tis a wonderful sign. It means ye are exceptionally compatible."

Kagome shared a grin with Inuyasha, who looked like he had puffed up with pride. "Of course we're compatible. I wouldn't have picked her for my mate if we weren't."

Kaede ignored him and instead simply held a hand over their joined hands and the rope. "Now for the next part…"

With a few more mumbled words suddenly the rope ignited and Kagome yelped, flinching in shock. Inuyasha gripped her hands tightly to prevent her from jerking back from the flames, and after a brief moment of panic, she quickly realized that the fire wasn't hot. It was warm, but didn't burn her skin. All she could do was watch the flames licking her skin in awe, amazed once again by the strange magic, and soon the rope had turned to ashes and fell off into the bowl.

"Now, ye may lick each other's wounds."

Inuyasha didn't hesitate to grab her hand and flip it over to get at the cut on her wrist. It wasn't too deep, and with only a few laps of his tongue it had closed. Kagome followed suit. Even though her tongue didn't have any healing properties any more, it seemed like the right thing to do.

After a quick lick on her part, he closed the wound with a swipe of his own tongue hastily placed across it. Then they turned once again to Kaede for the next set of instructions.

"The next part will be unpleasant I'm afraid." She warned. "First, ye must both drink some of the blood from the bowl. Only a few swallows will suffice."

Inuyasha once again led the charge and picked up the bowl without hesitation, taking two big gulps. Once done, he put it down with a badly covered shiver. It appeared he was trying to keep a straight face, but a slight grimace still peeked through. The fact that Inuyasha of all people found it distasteful certainly didn't make her feel any better about following suit, but if it was for the sake of this ceremony she was determined to see it through.

Taking a bracing breath, she picked it up and took a large mouthful, and instantly almost spat it back out. Somehow though she kept her mouth shut. It wasn't pleasant by any means… in fact it was positively foul. The blood was bad enough, but added onto that was bitter herbs and something strange that she assumed was the burned rope ashes. She somehow managed to get down that mouthful, though she nearly choked on it and aspirated some. Going into a severe coughing fit, she had to put the bowl down momentarily to prevent herself from spilling it.

Once she could breathe again, she repeated the whole unsavory process.

It went without saying that she was beyond glad when that part was over and done with.

"Very good. Now…" Kaede took the bowl and set it off to the side within her reach. "Move closer to each other."

They did so, and then moved even closer at her request until Kagome was essentially sitting in Inuyasha's lap, a position which she found somewhat embarrassing to be in, in Kaede's presence. However, she simply blushed and to the best of her ability pretended not to notice.

"Right. Inuyasha, stay still for a moment if ye please."

Kaede reached between them, and with a finger smeared the blood mixture on his lips. "Don't lick yer lips. While that's on yer mouth, I want ye to bite Kagome to place the mating mark. Do not withdraw once ye have bitten, but instead push yer essence into her through yer mouth."

He blinked, looked at Kaede, squinted, and then looked at Kagome. He glanced at her neck and frowned, before looking back at Kaede in a questioning manner. It seemed he was a bit confused.

"First, just bite her."

"Uh…how hard exactly?"

"Yer instincts will take over at that point, Inuyasha."

"If you say so…"

Kagome wasn't any more enthused than he was, but sat still as he approached and placed his mouth on her neck. She heard and felt him take a deep breath, and then she was flinching as he bit. It came as a shock, perhaps because she hadn't expected him to bite so hard. This wasn't any love bite or hicky, it was a true chomp, embedding his teeth into her neck. She couldn't entirely muffle the cry of pain that came from her, and felt him cringe in response. For once she regretted the return of her vocal cords.

Oh it hurt, and it nearly made her want to struggle against him but she forced herself to stillness.

"Breathe, Kagome, ye must breathe…"

Taking Kaede's advice, she gasped in some air and then panted hard. She could feel something burning now, a strange, tingling feeling beginning to suffuse the spot he had bitten, and figured he must be doing whatever it was that Kaede had been talking about. Even that hurt though, and for a moment the pain increased exponentially, forcing a sharp groan from her throat.

"Ye are fighting it. Here, let this rest under yer tongue."

Gingerly she opened her mouth and let the elder slip a leaf into her mouth, shifting it around to lay under her tongue as instructed. It seemed to ease the pain somewhat, and she found her body relaxing a little. In addition to that, Kaede increased the potency of the incense and added on an extra herb, which had Kagome relaxing even further. It still hurt terribly, but not as much as before, and as her tense muscles went lax the bite itself hurt less as well.

That odd feeling was beginning to spread throughout her body from her neck, and as she relaxed into it and simply let it happen, she found herself focusing on it more than the pain of the bite. It felt like a fever had taken hold, as if she burned from the inside out. There was a sense of struggle, as if her body was fighting off whatever was taking place. As a sharp agonizing pain speared through her blood, she instantly knew it wasn't working.

Before she called a halt to the ceremony though, she attempted the only thing she could think of to possibly make this work, and tried very hard to use her newest spiritual power. Though she couldn't look down to actually see her own soul, she could close her eyes and sense it. Kaede had said it was to be the key, that her soul would trigger the transformation of her body since it had a demonic essence. So, if she could just somehow overpower her body with it…mind over matter as they say…then perhaps she could force it through.

Focusing hard, she tried to locate her soul, the same way she would try to locate her powers. A soul was fickle though, it wasn't in a single place the way powers tended to pool… no, it was strung throughout her whole being. It was _her_ , in essence. But in her mind's eye, she could see it faintly as if blurry and through a pair of bad glasses. As she focused on it though, she was slowly able to bring it into focus, until she could observe it clearly.

Strangely, as soon as she located it, she could feel it as well, as if her physical form were a sleeve she was fitted into. Using this analogy, she found herself able to somehow take a step back almost, and felt a strange separation as she suddenly lacked all connection to her senses. She drifted up to see herself being held by Inuyasha, limp and apparently comatose.

He instantly disengaged, as if he could feel the sudden cessation of her soul, and then shook her. Though she couldn't hear with her ears, she could still plainly perceive him say her name repeatedly and with more and more desperation and panic.

Kaede was already preparing to pull his essence from her.

That wouldn't do though, and so Kagome made her presence known by "grabbing" Kaede's hand…though she couldn't quite figure out how to manifest in a way they could see. This time, she was still connected to her body and it weakened the power she had over her soul in this form.

Kaede could clearly feel her though and stayed her hand as she froze, looking shocked.

Of course now it was left up to her. Being separated like this wasn't really helping, and she eased back, just a bit, until instead of drifting freely she was sitting more like a halo around her body. She reconnected her senses through trial and error, though she chose not to feel the pain. Instead, she focused on the struggle of her body rejecting Inuyasha's lifeblood. Looking at herself in this way, she could actually see it - the glow of Inuyasha's essence struggling to put down roots in her body.

Her body though, thought it was human. That was what she was going to have to change. Settling in firmly, she grasped hold of herself, took control of every cell, and then projected the message clearly that her body was to accept the change and not fight it. She was supposed to be the other way. It helped when she was able to locate a shred of leftover demonic essence still laced within her own spiritual powers from the tight weave Kaede had placed it in. Using that, she was able to convince her body even more easily to accept the fact that she was a demon now…not a human.

Once her corporal form finally gave up the battle, all her fighting mechanisms that had been rejecting Inuyasha's advanced went limp, and she finally settled back into her body, fitting her soul back inside it like a glove. It took a few moments to reconnect everything properly and seat herself fully, but finally all systems were firing and she came to.

With a gasp she lurched, almost having forgotten the fact that she was currently in a great deal of pain. Even more so now, as her body accepted the changes forced upon it.

"Kagome! Are you okay? What happened?" Inuyasha asked urgently, his eyes sharp and concerned.

"Just…had to…go somewhere…deep…to convince…myself…I was…a demon…" She haltingly explained to ease his fears, but the pain shooting through her forced the words to come out on groans and hisses as she gasped for air between them.

She reveled in the feeling of her features once again shifting, but was also forced to grit her teeth to keep herself from screaming. Inuyasha gathered her even closer as her entire body shuddered.

"Oh, Kagome…." He murmured into her hair, tucking her into his chest so her face was buried in his shoulder and hair.

She gratefully accepted the embrace and curled into him as tightly as she could, pressing her forehead into the red material of his jacket and trying to muffle her cries as her ears, teeth, and nails shifted all over again. The demon blood took hold and surged forth. This time it wasn't nearly as bad though. While the physical changes in her shape and form hurt just as terribly, the change in her blood and powers came almost as a relief. It felt similar to when her vocal cords were returned to her - like a piece of her had been missing - and the sensation had her sobbing for an entirely different reason. She couldn't tell which tears were from pain and which were from happiness.

She once again felt whole, and only now realized just how much she had accepted those earthy tones into her spirit as they were returned to her.

Still, the physical changes were taking place and she had to pull back so she could spit her bloody human canines on the floor, along with a mouthful of blood before she could choke on it. There was no storm cloud of a spell to whisk them away, nor the bloody fingernails that were peeled from her fingers, which she also discarded. When this had happened once before, it had been in the snow and the evidence had quickly been lost. Here though, they landed on the floor for everyone to see, and they grimaced in horror at the sight. Kaede thankfully quickly scooped up the discarded human bits and shoved them out of sight.

It took some time, but finally she felt the pain fade, and went utterly limp in Inuyasha's grasp. He easily took her weight and held her up, still cradling her close.

"Is it…over?"

She nodded, too out of breath and weak to feel like responding.

"If I may?" Kaede asked, coming forward to gently grab hold of one of Kagome's wrists so she could take her pulse. Next she lifted her eyelids and peered into her eyes.

"It seems ye have successfully, and permanently, transformed into yer new body, Kagome…congratulations."

She started to laugh, out of both relief and happiness, and soon the other two joined in. Inuyasha smoothed his hand over her hair and furry ears in a gentle caress and she tilted her face up to look him in the eye.

With a broad – if tired – grin, she murmured, "I did it…."

"Yes you did. You turned back into a demon."

He looked awestruck, and quickly blinked away excess moisture from his eyes. Clearing his throat, he turned his gaze to Kaede. "Now what?"

"Well…if Kagome is up to it, she would claim ye as well and place her mark upon yer throat. But I believe ye two can handle it from this point on, so I will take my leave. If anything untoward happens, I will be in my den."

Right as she was about to descend, Inuyasha called out. "Kaede!...Thank you."

She blinked, looking astounded, and then smiled. "Of course, Inuyasha. Ye are both very welcome."

After that, she left them alone – with instructions that when Kagome returned the claim mark she needed to smear the blood on her lips as well.

"How about we rest a bit before you claim me back. You look like you're about to pass out."

She had to admit, it sounded like a good idea to her. So, he promptly picked her up and placed her on the bed, which he soon joined her on. They curled up together and rested for several hours.

Surprisingly, Kagome was the first to wake. She came out of her nearly comatose state feeling warm and happy, and woke slowly to feel refreshed. Once her eyes were open and she had blinked the remainder of sleep from them, she turned to her side, and found that Inuyasha was still out cold, much to her surprise.

After thinking about it for a moment, she decided that perhaps it would be best to bite him while he was asleep, then maybe it wouldn't be as painful. At the very least he wouldn't feel the initial pain of it. Determining it was a solid plan, she carefully snuck out of bed and found the bowl with the remainder of blood in it. The thick liquid had congealed a bit, and it took a moment of staring before she convinced herself to dip her finger into the gunk.

To her shock, as soon as her skin came into contact with the blood, a sharp zing went through her. She could feel power from the liquid course into her finger and make it tingle and buzz intensely. What Kaede said - about blood being sacred and carrying power - suddenly made much more sense to her. Perhaps it was because she was a demon once again that she responded in this way to it.

Even with the buzzing though, the sensation of the blood itself was less than pleasant to be sure. It was thick, and she was shocked it hadn't already begun to clot, but perhaps the herbs Kaede put in it prevented that. Or maybe it was the power flowing through it. Whatever the case, she was distinctly grateful that at least she wouldn't have to deal with clots…it was thick enough as it was. So she didn't linger with her finger in the bowl any longer than necessary.

Without thinking about it, she quickly smeared the gelatinous mixture on her lips and returned to bed, eager to get this over with and remove the red gunk from her skin. Unsurprisingly, her lips began to buzz and tingle as if with electricity - which was an interesting sensation. However, it wasn't interesting enough for her to want to draw the experience out more than she had to.

Inuyasha didn't wake as she very carefully eased back onto the bed, though he did roll over towards her as she lay down next to him. In his sleep he nuzzled closer to her, and she arranged herself so that she still had access to his neck. Very gently, her fingers stroked his long hair back to expose his throat and he arched into the caress, unintentionally presenting her with the skin she needed to bite.

She eyed the line of smooth tan skin, trying to gather her courage, but it took some time before she leaned in. After inhaling deeply and holding the air in her lungs for a moment in preparation, she closed the last gap and placed her mouth on his warm skin. His pulse beat under her lips and the light touch roused a soft rumble in his throat, though he didn't wake. Her lips were guided by some unknown knowledge now blended into her DNA, and they shifted to a spot that felt right. It still took her a moment and one more bracing breath before she bared her teeth and pressed them to his flesh.

Kaede had been right. As soon as she bit, an instinct took over her body and forced her newly minted fangs further into him than otherwise she would have been able to do, for fear of hurting him too much. But under the thrall of the instincts now coursing through her freshly demonic blood, she was helpless but to obey.

Unsurprisingly he woke, a few curses interspersed with his convoluted half asleep sentence of, "Wh' tha'hell?"

It was lucky that he was quick to figure out what was happening, otherwise he may have attacked – a thought she perhaps should have contemplated when biting the neck of a sleeping demon.

"Kagome?" He murmured, one hand finding the back of her head, and then he seemed to finally come to the obvious conclusion. "Oh. _Oh._ "

He was tense beneath her as she followed through with what her new body was telling her to do. Her mouth filled with a strange tingly power, and she could feel the essence of her saturate that space before passing through the bite into his blood. It was lucky her body knew how to do it automatically; otherwise she never would have figured it out.

For a long while they remained locked together as he lay still, but soon enough he shifted and a soft sound crawled out of his chest. It didn't exactly sound pained, but Kagome assumed it must be, based off the memory of her own experience. That theory was proven decidedly incorrect however, when he shifted once again, this time his arms coming up around her and then - to her shock - moved her. It couldn't have been present, because undoubtedly it shifted her bite and the teeth in his neck, and he confirmed that with a slight grunt that didn't sound overly pleased, but he still moved her to lie on top of him, as if he couldn't resist doing so.

With a sigh he relaxed, now completely under her, and though the sudden change in positions surprised her, somehow she continued the bite and transfer of self that went into a claiming mark. It was as if her mouth had been magnetized to his neck, and even if she had wanted to, she couldn't remove it or stop the process. Strangely though, she had no desire to stop. Despite the slightly disturbing feel of having her teeth – particularly her now sharp canines – embedded in his skin and muscle, the process itself was oddly…pleasant. As she pushed more of herself into him, it was as if she could feel something clicking into place between them…a bond of some sort, and she could sense him more and more clearly.

There was a feeling of closeness and intimacy with the act that she could have likened to making love - though it was even deeper, soul-to-soul instead of physical. What was even more surprising was the way heat began to build in her stomach, an odd sort of neediness that was very similar to the arousal she'd felt during physical intimacy.

Shockingly he seemed to like it too, which was in direct contradiction to the way she had felt about her own experience. It was difficult to believe, but the way his hands slid to her hips and anchored her to him while simultaneously rolling his body upwards, was a clear indication of his enjoyment.

After several more minutes, she was just beginning to wonder how she would know it was done, when the question was answered for her. The connection she'd felt building between them snapped into place, locking their souls together in a way that was absolute. It was as if the magnet that had been holding her mouth to his neck suddenly shut off, and she found herself pulling back - a slight crick in her neck making her grimace.

Pulling back just a little, she looked down at his neck to see this supposed "claim mark." Apparently she already had one, but since she couldn't look at her own neck, she was eager to see what it looked like. The skin where she had bitten had already healed over, and it had healed smoothly, so that the red colored mark looked more like a tattoo than a scar. The shape was interesting, a crescent – where her teeth probably had bitten him – with two horizontal lines crossing through it. If what she'd heard about it was to be believed, then this mark was specific to them.

Still leaning over him, she lightly touched the mark with a finger, and he shivered, his claws digging into her hips a little.

"So this is a claim mark…it's hard to believe that each mated pair's mark is different. How many variations could there possibly be?" She murmured contemplatively.

"You'd be surprised." He grunted back, and then shifted a little, his hands pulling at her hips.

When she sat up and back, she landed solidly on his crotch with her thighs to either side of his hips. If she'd had any doubt at all about his feelings, the hard ridge beneath her put them all to rest. Though she should have expected it, given his pleasured reaction, it still came as something of a shock and she was unable to prevent herself from voicing the question.

"Um. Why are you aroused? Didn't that hurt?"

Burning gold eyes met hers, and he blinked slowly before one hand rose to her face. His thumb gently found her lips and swiped across them, wiping off the blood that she realized was probably still hanging around. As his finger cleaned her mouth, he answered her.

"Yeah, a bit. But it felt good too."

She wasn't sure she believed him. "How could that possibly…? I can't honestly see _that_ feeling good at all. I _bit_ you, broke your skin… that would just hurt. It certainly didn't feel good to me."

"You were human, of course it hurt."

"So you're saying that as a demon it feels good to be bitten?" There was a note of incredulity in her voice that she couldn't quite hide.

"Not just bitten. Claimed. There's a big difference."

Suddenly his body heaved under hers and then he was sitting up and she was in his lap once again. Strong arms bracketed her and wrapped securely around her back, pressing her tightly to him.

"Would you like me to show you how it feels?"

The question took her by surprise. "What? Bite me again? What would be the purpose of that? You already claimed me."

He chuckled and she tensed as his head dipped, warm breath painting her neck and ear. "Maybe I should have told you that biting is a big part of mating."

"You mean like…the mating ceremony right?"

"No, mating. As in sex. Lovemaking. Biting happens a lot."

This was unexpected and she wasn't sure she was on board with it. "Um…why? Biting _hurts._ "

He huffed another laugh against her and nibbled on her shoulder. The feel of sharp fangs against her skin made her jump, especially with the current conversation. He didn't bite hard though, just nipped lightly, and though there was a little sting it also woke up her nerves in a very pleasant way, especially as his warm lips then sucked lightly on the spot.

If this is what he meant by biting, then maybe it wasn't so bad. With a sigh she relaxed some and murmured, "Well if that's what you meant, that's fine."

She heard him snort, and then he was pulling back to say, "No. Not even close. I meant biting, like when I claimed you."

"Again I ask, _why_?"

With a sigh he pulled back a little and eyeballed her neck. "A claim mark is super sensitive, a whole new pleasure spot on your body. Any touch is going to feel great, but biting it feels fucking fantastic."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Demon bodies are different than human bodies. Remember?" Before she knew what he was doing, one of his hands had slid up her back and into her hair before finding an ear.

She couldn't quite hold back the gasp as pleasure suddenly seared her senses, instantly going from her furry ear to her groin. Her body arched against his, neck pushing her head back into the caress that felt so amazing. It was the strangest feeling, one which she remembered from the first time they ever kissed. Human ears certainly weren't this sensitive and touching them didn't feel anywhere close to this good. It caused instant heat to pool in her belly, and after the first surge of pleasure that had her arching into him, all her muscles turned to jelly. He caught her weight, holding her to him as he first massaged one ear and then the other. When he lightly scratched them she yelped, her hips suddenly no longer jelly as they bucked against him.

It wasn't until after his fingers had released her ears that she remembered what it was they had been talking about. It still took a prompt from him though.

"Do human ears feel that good?"

Her eyes opened and she met his amused stare. "No…"

He grinned. "Then why is it so hard to believe that your claim mark is like that?"

Thinking through the thick jelly that her brain had turned into was a bit like trying to walk through tar, but she managed some sort of cognizant thought. "Touching my ears like that when I was a human wouldn't have hurt though. There's a difference."

With a groan and an exasperated sigh, he was suddenly tipping them over. Before she knew what was going on, she was on her back with him propped up over her.

"How about you just trust me?" He asked slightly gruffly, and then he was suddenly pressed against her as he dropped his weight to his elbows.

Both of his hands found her ears then, and her brain shut off entirely. It was just as pleasurable as having his hands on her breasts, though the sensation was different of course. Her body couldn't quite figure out how to respond: tense up or go limp. The way he was touching them now was a little different from a few moments ago, more firm and demanding, and she didn't have a chance really to go fully limp like before. Whenever his claws gently scratched them her body jumped, hips bucking up into his.

Her thighs pressed to either side of his hips, clamping down tight and holding him to her, which he didn't seem to mind at all. He just ground down into her, rubbing the ridge of his erection against her core. Even with her demon body, it was a little too rough though, and she cringed back a bit as he pressed into her sensitive bundle of nerves too hard.

"Too much pressure…" She managed to gasp, and he instantly lightened the weight between her legs, but didn't stop the movement of his hips. That actually felt quite good, especially paired with his hands on her ears.

She matched his rhythm and tilted her hips so he rubbed against her in a way that felt especially enjoyable. By this point she was wondering why he was just grinding against her like this… she would have expected him to try mating with her again. But he certainly wasn't going to get any complaints from her - this was definitely more pleasurable than when they had made love.

Apparently though, he had an ulterior motive, which she became aware of as his lips found her neck. She didn't know why he wanted to bite her again so much, and she wasn't sure she cared. At the touch of his lips on her skin she tensed up and protested.

"Wait just a minute…"

Her words cut off on a gasp as his tongue swiped over what must be her claim mark. It felt amazing - almost as if his mouth was on her core and not her neck. The sensation was just as pleasurable as what his hands were doing to her ears and her hips instantly pressed up into his even more, the rhythm between them picking up a little.

"Wha-what is…?" She sputtered, shocked nearly speechless.

She felt him laugh against her, puffs of warm air cooling her slightly moist skin. "Told you."

"Y-yeah but…" Speech once again became impossible and she trailed off as his mouth latched on, lightly sucking.

This was incredible and so incredibly strange. The only other time she'd felt even close to this aroused was when Inuyasha had licked her between her legs, and here she was grinding against him like a dog in heat with nothing more than his hands on her ears and mouth on her neck. If this was the way sex was as a demon, she didn't know how anyone got to the actual intercourse part, or even managed to get undressed.

Still, she wasn't even close to being prepared for his teeth digging into her skin. The first sensation was sharp pain as fangs penetrated her neck over the incredibly sensitive claim mark.

All she had time for in protest was an indignant, "Inuyasha!" - but the last syllable was warped as a second sensation quickly wiped out the first. A wave of pleasure swamped her, going from her neck strait down to between her legs and sticking, making what seemed like every muscle down there clench spastically a few times. The intensity of the sensation was incredibly close to an orgasm, the way it crested and magnified every other sensation pulsing through her body. Suddenly everything felt a hundred times better than it already did.

She was aware of the soft, slightly desperate sounds that came from her throat, but she had no way to stop them. Small moans spilled from her on every quickly taken breath, so they were quick and short, as rapid as her exhales. It was no surprise when she felt the pressure building quickly in her groin.

When the pleasure crested, her orgasm took her breath away, being stronger than any she'd ever experienced before. Her legs clamped down on him tight, but it didn't stop him from gently continuing to thrust against her. The fingers on her ears also gentled, becoming more soothing than stimulating.

The wave seemed to last longer as well, leaving her tensed and twitching for what seemed like minutes. It only subsided when he removed his mouth from her neck, and then finally she was able to go limp.

After a long moment she managed to part her eyes and looked up to see Inuyasha smirking down at her in a distinctly, _'I told you so,'_ sort of way. Groaning softly she conceded defeat.

"Alright, alright. You made your point."

Chuckling, his grin softened a little. "I told you to trust me."

"I know, I know." She grumbled, and then nipped at his nose in admonishment.

That triggered a few more laughs from him as he jerked back.

As he settled back against her, she was reminded that he was unspent and still very much hard. Wiggling against him she sighed, and murmured, "Give me a moment to catch my breath and then we can continue alright?"

He grunted in acknowledgement and settled his body down over hers. Her breath huffed out a bit as he rested his weight on her, and he shifted, asking, "Too heavy?"

"No. You're fine." She soothed, her fingers finding his long silky hair and stroking it. He mumbled something unintelligible and his hips pressed into hers one last time before he stilled and nuzzled his face into her shoulder and neck, opposite to the side with her claim mark.

With her stronger demon body, his weight really wasn't too bad. It felt good actually, aside from constricting her breathing a little.

After a few minutes of cuddling, Inuyasha stirred again, and then she felt a long moist lick along her neck. It was followed by another and then a little nibble with the teeth between his fangs. His tongue swiped across her neck again, then mopped her cheek, and finally she just had to ask.

"What are you doing?"

"Kissing you?" He responded in a questioning manner as if asking why she would ask something so obvious.

"No…you're licking me."

"That's a kind of kissing."

"Maybe for dogs but…" She looked at him, and then it clicked. "Oh."

His lips curved up in a small amused smile. And then he licked her lips. She just couldn't quite help but cringe back and make a face at him, which caused him to burst out laughing.

In retaliation, she pinched an ear, and the laughter cut off on a yelp. She hadn't pinched him hard enough to hurt that bad, but she still soothed it with a gentle rub. He responded with a moan and buried his face in her shoulder and neck again, while his hips bucked and sharply reminded her he was still needy with lust. She'd recovered mostly from her own orgasm, and so she decided it was time to continue.

To be honest she wasn't exactly looking forward to intercourse, given how uncomfortable and painful it was last time, but she did want the intimacy it afforded. What she _was_ looking forward to, was getting to see him come undone again, the thought of which made warmth rekindle in her belly.

She reminded herself to be careful of her claws as she fitted them between their bodies. He caught on and lifted up some to give her space, and she used it to untie both his shirts until they gaped open and she could shove them off his shoulders. His pants came off shortly after, with a few contortions on both their parts. At that point they rolled so that she was on top. She sat up and busied herself with the ties on her own shirt, Inuyasha's hands already creeping up underneath. As soon as the two sides parted, he had grabbed it and whisked it off her in the span of a second.

That left her in her hakama, the holes at the sides exposing her bare hips. Clawed fingers snuck in the open holes, teasing the skin at her hips and she couldn't quite hold back a shiver at the pleasurably ticklish sensation. Inuyasha's fangs flashed in a grin at her response, and then he was making quick work of the tie in front. They slid down, only to stall at her thighs, and another set of contortions were required to get her fully unclothed.

Finally though, she was sitting atop him, both of them fully nude.

Her fingers found his stomach, smoothing over the ridges of his muscles and then lightly scratching. His belly tensed and jumped under her claws, while his dug abruptly into her hips. She hissed at the sharp stings of slight pain. The tips of his claws were removed from her skin and then his palms slid up her sides to grip her ribs and pull her down on top of him. She eagerly went, her lips seeking and finding his.

This time it was _her_ elbows pressed into the furs as her arms rested on either side of his head, her fingers finding his ears. A deep groan opened his lips, and she swallowed it, parting her lips against his. The kiss deepened for a moment, but was quickly broken when Inuyasha tugged her hips down to meet his. She had to raise her body a bit and prop herself up with her hands to either side of his ribs so that her groin could meet his.

After a long moment, she finally sat up fully, mussed and out of breath. Licking her lips, she stared down at where their hips met, seeing him sticking out from between her lips as if he was part of her. It was almost a humorous sight. Her lips quirked into a smile, but it was short-lived as she realized the time was approaching when he would be inside her again. She wasn't exactly anxious about it, but she also wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the pain and discomfort.

There was an awkward moment as she tried to figure out what to do now. Inuyasha simply lay still beneath her, amazingly patient as she mulled her options around in her mind. He must have seen the dread on her face and his thumbs gently stroked the inside curve of her hip bones.

"Something wrong?" He finally asked, as she obviously stalled.

"Not exactly. I'm just…a little nervous. That's all."

"Nervous? About what? We've already done this before."

"Yes, well it was a little…uncomfortable last time. I guess I'm just not looking forward to that."

His eyes widened in understanding and then softened. "Oh. That. You were a virgin though right? So it shouldn't hurt at all this time around. We already broke your maidenhead."

"True. I know it's not supposed to hurt. But…" She left off on a sigh.

It might not hurt, but it was still probably going to be uncomfortable at the very least. Still, there was no sense in prolonging the inevitable she supposed. Making up her mind, she shifted back on his thighs a little and stared at him, trying to figure out the best way to go about getting him inside her in this position.

"Want some help?" He asked, one of his hands shifting to his erection.

She batted it away. "I can do it."

One white eyebrow raised, and a smirk curved his lips. "Alright then. I'm all yours."

She flushed a little and pursed her lips. One of her hands reached out and wrapped around his erection, figuring that she was going to need to lift him up first. It was at that point that she realized she'd never touched this part of his body. She was shocked by how firm it was under the soft skin. It was amazing.

Without meaning to, she muttered, "It's so hard…" and then blushed when she realized she'd said it out loud. What an incredibly cheesy thing to say.

He chuckled. "What were you expecting?"

"I don't know. I just…it's hard to believe that it's just blood and tissue. It really feels like there's a bone in there. Although…" She risked squeezing harder, and felt the flesh give just a tiny bit under the pressure.

His hips flexed and he hissed in response to her harder touch, and to her shock the body part in question kicked in her grip and pulsed.

"I'm sorry, did that hurt?" She asked, concerned she'd been too rough with him.

"Nope." He gritted out between his teeth, and the tone of his voice was significantly deeper and tighter than a few seconds ago.

His voice almost sounded pained, and when she looked up she noted how his face also looked tight as if with discomfort. However, she decided to take his word for it and squeezed him again - a little more gently this time. The way his eyes rolled back in his head and his neck arched just a little suggested that it was pleasure rather than pain she was sensing from him.

She enjoyed giving him a few more squeezes and then graduated to strokes with her fist, thoroughly appreciating the way he clenched his teeth and his claws dug into the furs beneath them. Really, she would love to try to make him peak like this, but she figured he probably wanted more.

So, regretfully she stopped stoking him and instead shifted up and shuffled forwards on her knees until she was hovering over him, keeping him propped up with a couple of fingers now.

Somewhat awkwardly, she tried to get a look at him, wondering if she was aiming right. To be honest, in this position she couldn't really see what she was doing, which meant she'd just have to find the right spot through touch.

"Um…does this look right?" She asked after a moment, unsure if she was going about this the right way, and feeling a little self-conscious and silly.

He was already staring at her, so intensely that she felt her cheeks flush. Gold eyes flicked down to hip level, and he rumbled, "Yeah, you're fine."

Taking his word for it, she sat down gingerly until the tip of him came into contact with her. He was much too far forwards, so she slowly shifted until he hit a dip where she felt her flesh give way under the gentle pressure. She let him sink in just a little bit more to make sure he wouldn't pop out without her supportive fingers, and then removed her hand and braced it on his chest.

Very, very slowly she inched down on him, half expecting to feel a sharp pinching sensation like last time. There was none…just that odd stretching sensation that she remembered. Without the pain, it wasn't exactly unpleasant, but it was still a bit odd and slightly uncomfortable. Finally her pelvis met his and she let her weight gingerly settle until she was resting fully on his hips, his erection seated entirely inside her. At that point she realized she'd been holding her breath and let it out with a somewhat loud whoosh of air.

She gulped down a few breaths before her breathing pattern settled back to something normal. Her eyes were locked onto where she was sitting flush against him, and then flicked up to meet his gaze. His eyes were tight, heated with the kind of lust she remembered from last time, but he managed to ask, "You okay? Did it hurt?"

She shook her head. "No. It didn't."

His eyes closed. "Good." He gritted through his teeth. After a moment he added, "You think maybe you could try moving?"

"Oh. Right."

Gulping, she used her hand on his chest to brace herself as she carefully lifted herself up and then just as slowly went back down. The single stroke woke up all those nerves inside her, and a little flutter of pleasure made her walls tighten on him. He flinched and his hips flexed, pushing him even deeper. He hit what must be the top of her - the entrance to the womb she supposed - and it was her turn to flinch. That and something else very deep inside sent a flash of pleasure through her as he bumped into them.

Repeating the previous motion, she raised and lowered herself, this time not stopping - until she developed a slow rhythm. The constant push and pull at her insides surprised her by sending sparks of pleasure through her nervous system. She hadn't expected this to feel good, but this time the stretching sense of fullness and friction felt very pleasant. In fact, as she got more used to the stretching sensation, it began to feel better and better, prompting her to try increasing her speed a little.

Apparently Inuyasha reached a breaking point though, and suddenly he had surged under her, flipping them over in a quick move that dislodged him. She gasped as she found herself on her back, and he was already pushing back in.

His thrusts were stronger than hers, and a little faster, though he maintained a relatively slow steady rhythm. She met his thrusts with her hips after she'd gotten over her surprise at the abrupt change in position. Slowly, he began to increase his speed, and as he did the pleasure of the act increased exponentially, until she was gasping and clinging to his back with her fingers. There was a high probability that she was leaving some scratches on his skin with her sharp claws, but he didn't seem to care too much.

She received some scratches in return along her hips and thighs as he sat back a little and dragged her closer. The pleasure was so great though that she didn't even notice.

Things changed when she felt him freeze for a moment, a deep growl coming from his chest and his eyes flashing. She'd almost forgotten about the knotting business, up until he began to swell within her. Her muscles tensed, expecting the pleasure to turn into discomfort. However, something strange happened instead. As he swelled, he pressed against a corresponding spot inside her that sent a sharp stab of pleasure through her. She sucked in her breath, closing her eyes as she absorbed the odd sensation. Her eyes watered from the intensity of it, but not out of pain.

"You okay?" He asked harshly, probably noting the change in her expression and what probably looked like tears.

"Yeah…feels good actually…" She managed to choke out, opening her eyes to meet his concerned gaze.

He blinked, not entirely looking like he believed her. But hesitantly he shifted his hips, probably testing to see if she was telling the truth. There was no way to prevent the surprised moan that came from what felt like deep in her chest, and before her eyes closed again she saw his eyebrows shoot up.

Now that his concerns were assuaged, he proceeded to resume thrusting, starting slow and then gaining speed. His thrusts were short and deep, because of the swollen bit tying him to her, and as he gained speed they grew more powerful despite the short range of motion available.

As for Kagome, she couldn't believe how much pleasure she was experiencing. Perhaps this demon body was built specially with another pleasure point inside instead of just the one at the top of her cleft, but whatever the case she could feel pressure building up inside. It came as absolutely no surprise when the pleasure crested, sending her tumbling headfirst into another powerful orgasm.

Having something inside her as she rhythmically clenched in climax felt amazing, and extended the release significantly. Apparently it felt good to Inuyasha as well, because a sharp gasp escaped him as soon as she clamped down, and then he seemed to lose complete control of his rhythm. His thrusts grew nearly frantic and a bit disjointed, and the sudden increase in speed triggered another orgasm in Kagome as that strange spot in her got stimulated even more. By this point she was entirely wrapped around him, her legs clenched tightly around his waist as her body shuddered against his. She'd dragged him down on top of her without even realizing it, and as the second wave of pleasure crested her teeth bit down unconsciously into his neck – which just happened to be in front of her face.

Maybe it was instinct, or maybe it was pure luck, but whatever the case, somehow she managed to hit him dead center over his claim mark, and biting into it instantly sent him over the edge as well. With a shocked bark of pleasure, his hips pressed tight to hers and his entire body shuddered and tensed. Through her own muscle contractions, she could faintly feel him pulsing inside her and knew without a doubt that he'd also released.

Her contractions seemed to draw out his orgasm, and they remained locked together for a long minute as they rode out the waves of pleasure. Finally, both of them went limp, and Inuyasha collapsed on top of her. It took a while before they could disengage, but this time Kagome enjoyed the experience of feeling him slowly deflating within her.

Once the knot holding them together had gone away, he gently removed himself and rolled over, taking her with him.

"So…how was that?" He asked after a while, sounding a little smug, but mostly just curious.

"Much better than last time. It felt amazing." She responded on a sigh, not at all concerned about inflating his ego. He deserved it after that.

Instead of gloating, he just exhaled happily and murmured, "Good. I'm glad."

After another long peaceful moment, Kagome asked, "Do you think I might be pregnant now?" It was a random thought that had just occurred to her, but surprisingly the idea didn't scare her.

"No. You aren't in heat. I'd smell it if you were."

"Oh." That was an interesting piece of information.

"There's plenty of time for that…we have the rest of our lives to have pups." Inuyasha whispered, his words already slurring a little from sleep.

"The rest of our lives…" She repeated softly, smiling with pure joy. It was true. They had the rest of their lives to live and love and make a family together. And for the first time in her life, she didn't dread her future. She was free. Free of any curses, free of walls and constraints and feeling like she didn't belong. And it was beautiful.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

And there you go! Fully mated and happy. I think they deserved it, don't you?

We have one more chapter left, it'll be shorter, just an epilogue, but stay tuned. :D

As always, a huge thanks to everyone who has followed and read and reviewed this story. All you guys are absolutely amazing, and I wouldn't have gotten this far without your support.


	21. Chapter 21

_Epilogue_

It was the dead of night, and all the citizens of Oceana were sound asleep safe behind their Wall. There was no one to see the faint wisp of what appeared to be glowing smoke easing its way through the streets. It traveled silently through the night, until it stopped in front of a house and then entered.

A certain elderly man woke; alarmed out of his slumber by something breaking through the protective spiritual barrier he was in charge of.

He had just gotten dressed, preparing to set out and find this intruder, when a chill ran up his spine and alerted him to the fact that there was something in his home. In fact, it was in this very room, and he spun slowly to see a glowing white mist slowly accumulate.

Before he could attack, it began to form the shape of a woman… one whom he knew very well. All sensation seemed to drop away as his limbs went numb with shock, his eyes gazing upon the spiritual visage of his granddaughter who had disappeared without a trace years ago.

She seemed to not have aged much; the only major difference in her appearance – aside from being in this ghostlike form – was the addition of a set of ears. If he wasn't as gifted with spiritual power as he was, he might have thought she was a fake…a trick of some sort constructed by a demon. However, he could clearly see the signature of her soul in this form. It was undoubtedly Kagome, though how she became a demon he had no idea.

"Grandfather…."

Her "voice" filled him with shivers. To be spoken to by a spirit was beyond anything he had ever experienced before. Still, he was determined to take advantage of this incredibly strange moment and pushed past his shock in order to speak to her.

"Kagome…what…how?" He sputtered for a moment then finally settled on, "Are you dead?" With her looking so much like a ghost, it was a realistic concern.

"No. I am merely astral traveling."

Knowing that this wasn't her ghost had him breathing a sigh of relief. At the very least he knew she wasn't dead, which was more than he could say for the past few years. He had thoroughly assumed that she was dead by now, eaten by demons probably. There was no way he could have predicted that she would actually turn into a demon herself.

"How in the world are you doing this? And why are you a demon? I can clearly sense the demonic energy coming from your soul…"

"It's a very long story." She seemed to sigh, and then offered, "I can show you. If you wish to see, that is."

"Of course! Kagome…you have no idea how worried we've been! We thought you were dead!"

"I'm so sorry…" She murmured, gliding closer. He could feel the sincerity behind the words, the honest sorrow and regret she felt at having caused her loved ones such deep pain.

Reaching out her "hand," he was graced with a strange ghostly touch resting on his shoulder, and suddenly he could "see" images that he knew came from her. They whipped past, speeding at a rate that was precisely how fast he could perceive them.

Images of her sneaking beyond the wall came first and he tensed, expecting to see her caning. Oh how he regretted punishing her so horribly. It was the last thing he had ever done before she disappeared and for years it had tormented him.

Instead, he simply saw her memories of the adventures she had partaken in beyond the wall, and for the first time he understood why she had ever done so to begin with. Not only were the memories transmitted, but also the feelings behind them, and he experienced her wonder and the feeling of freedom she had experienced firsthand. Shortly following those images, were a series of shocking ones including a demon, who apparently she had followed. Though he could feel the curiosity that had driven this decision, he couldn't fully comprehend why she would ever do something so reckless. The memories only grew more outrageous to him, as she shared images of her finding this demon injured, followed by how she treated him and apparently grew feelings for him. If this hadn't been the past, he would have proclaimed the idiocy of her decisions; however since this was long ago he held his tongue.

She skipped over the caning and went straight to how she flew over the wall on the back of a crow demon. The crow had taken her straight to a demon witch, who apparently made some sort of contract with her, turning her into a demon as well. It was some small comfort to feel how she had been reluctant and scared, and had considered the fact that she would never see her family again. It had been a prospect that had upset her greatly; however, she had been tricked into taking the witch's offer.

He couldn't fault her for making such a rash decision, after all she had been greatly upset and that had largely been due to his own horrible mistake.

A flurry of scenes followed, of how she was taken in by a dog demon pack, welcomed like a member of their family, and how she obviously slowly fell in love with that same demon from before. To say he was shocked was an understatement. He never would have thought that demons could be anything more than pure evil, and yet here was undeniable proof that he had assumed wrongly for all of his life.

She quickly wrapped up her story, and he could feel through the contact with his soul and hers, that she was straining to finish and was being pulled back to her body. Their time was almost up; however she had enough time to show him a final battle, with the same witch who had cursed her. He mentally cheered when the witch was defeated, though the method was certainly unorthodox. Finally, she showed him images of her new family, soothing him with the knowledge that she was happy in her knew life at least, unusual though it might be.

It was beyond his ability to express how he felt. However, he could sense that she could clearly feel his spirit and knew his thoughts and feelings on the matter without him even having to attempt to put them into words. His love for her, his sorrow and regret at their parting, his joy at seeing her again, and his amazement at the visions of her journey were all translated to her soul-to-soul.

No more needed to be said. She clearly communicated a reciprocation of his emotions - the love, regret, and happiness.

"Please tell Sota that I love him as well, and how sorry I am for leaving the way I did." She asked, her form beginning to dissipate.

"I will. He now lives with his new wife some ways away from here; however I know he will be overjoyed to hear of your wellbeing."

"He's married? Tell him congratulations too for me." Pure joy emanated from her at the news.

"Of course."

He could sense it was time for her to go now; there was a tugging that was transmitted from her to him. It was as if her body was calling her home.

As her form began to dissolve, he suddenly experienced a strong surge of emotion - sadness overtaking the joy he had experienced at her visit.

He couldn't prevent himself from calling out to her fading spirit. "Wait! Is this goodbye? Will I ever see you again?"

"Yes. I will come and visit periodically in this manner. Perhaps someday we could meet in person. I can guarantee your safety beyond the wall."

Hesitantly he said, "Perhaps so."

And with that, she was gone, leaving no trace she had ever been there.

It took about the rest of the night for Kagome to find her way back to her body after traveling such a great distance.

She woke to the sensation of someone licking her face and groaned. "Why are you in dog form Inuyasha?"

Hot breath accosted her and heavy panting filled her ears. "Kaito wanted to go for a run."

"Ah."

Blearily she cracked her eyes open to see that yes, their little bundle of joy was currently fuzzy and round, covered in black baby fuzz and dirt. Their son was made of pure energy, and had somehow learned how to transform practically out of the womb. He loved nothing more than to chase his dad's tail through the woods at breakneck speeds…for him at least. They were still quite slow for Inuyasha, considering how tiny and clumsy their baby boy still was.

She instantly got a facefull of soft fur and ' _mmphed_ ,' protesting lightly as she reached up to grapple him off her head. One tiny paw somehow found its way into her mouth, while another was on her eye.

"Hey! Stop assaulting your mother!"

The bundle was lifted from her gently, and after rubbing the dirt from her eyes she looked up to see Inuyasha holding their baby by his ruff, growling softly at him in reprimand.

Kaito looked thoroughly unapologetic, his eyes bright and happy with a long pink tongue lolling out of his mouth. He was staring down at her, and out of his mouth he yapped, "Momma!" loudly, the tone pitched high with joy.

"Hello Sweetie. Good morning."

"Mo'nin' Mamma!" He repeated in his slightly clumsy baby-speech. He was still learning how to talk.

She couldn't resist him any longer, and reached out her arms to accept the ball of cuteness, which turned into a bouncing baby boy as she cuddled him to her chest. He had fluffy black hair, big golden eyes, and the cutest button nose she'd ever seen. In her opinion, he was the prettiest, cutest, most lovable baby in the whole wild world…but that was probably because he was hers.

He was incredibly sweet, if slightly hard to control. As usual though, he settled onto her chest and stopped wiggling with a happy sigh and gentle cooing sound. Just like his daddy, he loved to snuggle, and the only thing that could keep him still longer than a second was the offering of cuddles.

Giving his son one last nip on the behind for being so rascally, Inuyasha also transformed, and predictably stretched out alongside them.

"You okay? Did you astral travel again in your sleep?"

"Yes. But I made it all the way to the wall this time. I finally found it." She whispered back, not wanting to wake Kaito who had instantly fallen asleep in her arms.

"That's wonderful! Did you find your family?"

"Yes! I actually was able to speak with Grandfather before I woke!"

"And?"

"It went well." She sighed contentedly, beginning to doze again as the warmth of her mate and pup started lulling her back asleep. These days she was more tired anyways, since they had another pup on the way. Her belly was already swollen, but not so much that Kaito couldn't still cuddle up on her chest and ribcage above the bump.

She stirred when said bump was rubbed lightly by one large warm hand, and she cracked an eye at Inuyasha to see him giving her a dreamy, loving look…one which he quickly fixed as he noted her staring. He was still a little uncomfortable when it came to exposing just how soft he was inside, and his knee jerk reaction was still to fix a scowl on his face at getting caught. When she quirked a small smirk at him though, his tense expression relaxed and he went back to gazing at her gently – though not quite as googly as before.

"Maybe someday we can go back to the wall…see Sota and Grandfather again in person. I'd love it if you could meet them…" She trailed off, once again getting drowsy.

"Yeah. Maybe so." He murmured back, nuzzling her face and then pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

With happy dreams of the future, the small family all fell asleep together.

.

.

.

 _End_

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

And we're done! I hope everyone was satisfied with the epilogue. I know it was a bit short, but I figured that was all that was needed to wrap it up. Something short and sweet that answered the last few questions. :D

A huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story! You are all amazing and kept me writing it to the very end. Also, I will check back periodically for new reviews and respond to them, so - addressing anyone who's reading this in the future - please feel free to leave a review. I will still see it even though this story is done.

Also, if anyone out there likes Soul Eater or Naruto, feel free to read my other stories. I have a new Soul Eater story being updated every weekend now and another one in the works. :3


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